The 30th Quarter Quell
by silver-nightstorm
Summary: 625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?
1. Prologue

So, I felt the necessity to post a prologue because of the amount of confusion that could be involved in this story. Since I've changed the storyline to still have the Mockingjay characters in it, I feel like you guys are a bit confused by the exact happenings of what's going on. All things considered, I'm going to structure where each of the Hunger Games characters ended up in order to sync with what tributes submitted for this story I hope you enjoy!

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**Prologue: All Those Years Ago**

If one bothered to look through the ruins of District 13, they would find a book.

The book was very worn and, if one looked more closely, actually from District 12. In fact, it wasn't so much as a book, but a diary.

It was the diary of the Mockingjay, Katniss Everdeen-Mellark, the girl on fire. Most people would be shocked. Katniss didn't really seem like the type to keep a diary. She was too strong, too stubborn, too brave to spill her feelings into a book.

But the fact of the matter was that from a few months before the reaping for the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss had been keeping a diary. Her diary continued until the point where she left Thirteen for the final attack on the Capitol—the attack that had failed.

The events recollected in Katniss's diary were well known—the events that followed were a bit fuzzy. No one really knew what had happened after the attack on the Capitol. A few days after the attack, President Snow emerged unscathed and Katniss was a prisoner.

Although the members of District 13 were officially required to leave their home and relocate to another district, not many did. In the beginning, at least. That all changed after the Fifth Quarter Quell. The Quarter Quell that would haunt Panem forever.

The Quarter Quell that reaped entire families into the arena.

Katniss had thought that she would be free from the Hunger Games forever. The worst punishment that the Capitol could enforce on her was to force her to continue living. And it didn't end there; the Capitol forced her to have children.

Katniss's plan for life had been very simple. Don't cause trouble and grow old alone without children. After the first games, the first part of Katniss's plan fell apart. Eating those berries could qualify to most as "causing trouble". But when Katniss got reaped into the arena again and Peeta made up the story about her being pregnant and they were forced to "marry"… well, the whole thing burst into flames then… literally. On top of it all, when the rebellion failed, the Capitol took control again. And this time, they knew what Katniss was afraid of.

Katniss had her first child, a boy named Gale Mellark, when she was twenty years old.

She had her second child, a girl named Primrose, when she was twenty-two years old. It was around that time that she found out that Gale had had a daughter in his new home in District 2.

Every year, Katniss endured the terrifying feeling of watching her children go through the reaping. She didn't put it past the Capitol to rig the reapings to that her children would be reaped on purpose. She knew the Capitol would do it.

But she made it through with all her children in one piece. Katniss breathed a sigh of relief. But it was too soon to be happy… way too soon.

Peeta Mellark passed away at the age of 60 during the year of the 118th Hunger Games. His death didn't come as much of a shock. His mechanical leg was getting rusty, and he would get random relapses of blood poisoning. He frequently relapsed into thinking that he was younger and back in the games. When he finally died, Katniss was heartbroken. She had become very attached to the boy who gave her bread.

Sadly, Katniss had forgotten to notice the fact that her grandchildren were growing up. In the end, it was Primrose's 2nd daughter, Juniper, who got reaped. Sadly for her family, she got reaped into the 5th Quarter Quell. The Quarter Quell that stated that the siblings, parents, and grandparents of the child reaped would enter into the arena.

The Quarter Quell that saw the return of Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, the Mockingjay.

Up until this point, quite a large number of the former rebellion members were still living in Thirteen. After these games, they were all forcibly removed and moved back into separate districts. Families were torn apart. Annie Odair was pulled away from her grandchildren and thrown into District 3. Annie's son, Finn Odair, was sent back to Four with his son, but his triplet daughters were sent to District 5.

After these games, the light that was Katniss Everdeen-Mellark was forever extinguished, as was all hope for Panem.

And the Hunger Games have gone on uninterrupted for centuries.

**XX**

For clarification, Katniss's diary is basically the events of "Hunger Games" "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" until the point of the final Capitol invasion in diary form. I'm still accepting submissions for mentors, stylists, and scenarios! Check the previous chapter for an ongoing list. Additionally, the tribute list will be updated there, but I will start the reapings for the first five districts! Stay tuned! May the odds be _ever_ in your favor!


	2. District 1: Reaping

Yosh! Finally! Time to start! Here is the… *dramatic music* District 1 reaping~!

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 1: Reaping**

**~Asla Pearl~**

"Don't worry, Glaze! You'll be ok!"

A tiny boy with golden blonde hair grinned weakly, the red spots on his skin standing out under the light of the moon streaming through the slightly parted curtains. The emerald-eyed girl kneeling by his bedside bit her lips as she tried to hold back her tears. In the ethereal light, she looked almost angelic.

"Chicken pox never killed anyone, ok?" she whispered, trying to convince herself more than her little brother. "The peacemakers said they would send a physician to take care of you." She tried to smile, but failed horribly.

Glaze's innocent face morphed , turning into the face of the mayor. "You know they won't save him, Asla! Stop deluding yourself. Those filthy capitol dogs never cared for us!"

"That's not true!" wailed Asla, throwing herself at the figure of her brother wearing the face of her father. "Why would they abandon us?"

"Dogs, the lot of them!" spat Glaze, wearing his face again. His expression carried too much hate for a five-year-old.

Asla's arms dropped from around his body as his skin began to heat up. "Glaze?" she whispered, her eyes turning wide.

Suddenly, the red spots spread, turning the child's body blood red. Glaze's mutilated hand grabbed onto Asla's dirty blonde hair and she jumped away…

XX

Sixteen-year-old Asla Pearl woke up screaming. Through her blurry vision, she made out the canopy of her bed and the sunlight streaming through the balcony doors. Asla collapsed back onto her bed, sighing. It was just a dream.

Asla calmed her breathing down and slowly drug herself out of bed. She reached for the comb on her side table and began to brush her waist length locks.

Glaze had died three years ago. Despite all the time that had gone by, Asla still remembered the event like it was yesterday. She clearly remembered her desperation as she waited for the Peacekeepers to show up and save her brother, and the heartbreaking emptiness that remained when they never came. She could still see Glaze's young face, so innocent, believing his big sister's every word. She still remembered his funeral, where Luxy had clung onto her for dear life. Rich was too little to remember his brother dying, but Luxy was twelve and Glass was nine. The three Pearl sisters remembered the occurrence like it was yesterday.

A tapping on the door brought Asla to her feet. She opened the door only to be knocked back by the girl who jumped into her arms. "Asla! I don't want to go to the reaping!"

Asla smiled and gently stroked Glass's honey-blonde hair. "Don't worry, m'dear," she cooed. "You'll be ok. The odds are in your favor."

Glass looked her big sister in the eye. "Are you sure?"

"Yup."

"Well, Asla's always right so I'll definitely be ok!" Glass grinned. "I gotta find a pretty dress now!"

Asla couldn't help but smile at her sister's enthusiasm. She sighed, suddenly drawn back into reality. The reaping. For the past four years, Asla had been praying that she would get reaped. Not because she loved the Games, quite the contrary. She wanted a chance to prove herself, to show the Capitol that they could not hurt her without repercussions. That they could not mess with her family.

She wanted to be the next Katniss Everdeen.

But Asla knew the truth of the situation. She knew that even if she was picked for the Games, someone would volunteer for her. She lived in District 1, the Games was the main attraction. Asla also knew that if she got into the Games, she would never do anything to put her family into jeopardy. She would be the good little tribute she was required to be.

But then again, things change in the playing field.

**~Service "Vice" Collector~**

Vice whipped out her sword and proceeded to lunge at Dawn. Dawn smirked, dodging the crazy attack easily.

"Come on, Vice!" she egged her sister. "You gotta do better than that if you want to win! Don't let me get you angry!" Dawn started laughing.

Vice bared her teeth at her sister and bit back a scathing retort. Seventeen-year-old Dawn Collector did know what she was talking about—being a victor did that to a person. Dawn had won the 748th Hunger Games and Service was happy to listen to her expert advice—even if she didn't show it.

Vice wiped the sweat off her brow as she heard her mother's cheery call. "Reaping time, kids!" Vice hurriedly hid her sword in her mother's room, pulled on a short black dress that belonged to her mother, and ran down the steps.

Blonde Millie Collector greeted her daughter with a shout of glee. "That's my dress!"

"Yup," Vice said proudly, spinning around. "From the…"

"722nd Games!" Millie cooed, prancing around her daughter. Millie frantically pulled the dress so it sat perfectly on Vice's frame. She looked her daughter in the eye, emerald meeting emerald, and grinned. "Hopefully, you'll get reaped in this dress like I did!"

"And if I don't get reaped, this is the year I volunteer!" Vice grinned. "It's my time to shine in this family!"

"Course it is, dear lil' sis!" Vice spun around to see her older brother, Arrow, casually leaning against the wall. "Betcha can't beat me!"

"All I gotta do is win and I'll be just as good as you!" Vice said smugly. "Actually, even better! You only won the 744th games, and I'm going to win a Quarter Quell!"

"I won when I was only thirteen!"

"But I'll win when there're twice as many tributes!"

Vice's father, Ax, laughed as he walked into the room with her last sibling, eleven year old Sam. Vice took Sam's hand, and the entire Collector family left their mansion in Victor's Village to head down to the city square.

**~Jay Fink~**

"Jay!"

A young girl with red hair was trying to catch the attention of a boy. "Jay!" she shrieked again. Finally, she gave up and turned around to talk to her other friends.

Thirteen-year-old Jay Fink sighed in relief. That girl—Moa? Mona? He couldn't remember—had been bothering him for a very long time. He honestly wanted to tell her he wasn't interested. He wasn't trying to be mean and he didn't want her to get hurt. But he had a reputation to uphold, and uphold it he must.

Another boy in Jay's reaping section walked up to him. "Hey, Jay!" cried the boy. "Are you worried at all?"

Jay turned to the boy, raising an eyebrow. "Why would I be worried? It's not like I have anything to fear," he said tonelessly.

"Geez!" growled the other boy. "Just as grumpy and cold as always, aren't you?"

Jay inwardly sighed, but shot the boy a glare. "Whatever, man!" the kid said, throwing up his hands in the 'I surrender' motion.

Jay sighed as her turned away just to hear…

"Jay honey!"

It was his mother, 43 year old Diana Fink, known as Didi to her friends. "Yes, mum?" grumbled Jay.

The hyper woman ran up to her son and proceeded to try to hug him to death. She would have succeeded too, if it wasn't for Jay's strength. The black haired woman looked down fondly at her only son. "Did your father say anything to you?"

Jay snorted, "That man? Why would he even acknowledge me?"

"Oh, my poor baby!" Didi wailed, hugging her son again. "Don't you worry, m'dear! He'll come around!"

Jay sighed. If there was one thing he was completely sure of, it was that his father was not going to come around. For as long as Jay could remember, Drey Fink had despised his only child for no reason whatsoever. Jay could take it, it wasn't like his father's hatred bothered him. He just wanted to know _why_. There had to be a reason, after all.

"Oh, dear!" wailed Didi, her Chinese eyes starting to water. "The reaping is going to start! Be safe, baby!" She kissed her son and ran to stand with the other parents, and tearfully waved at her son. On the inside, Jay smiled, but he ignored his mother.

_I love you mum._

**~Lux Ury~**

The eighteen year old boys were trying to stay out of trouble. While Mayor Pearl was beginning the opening ceremonies for the reaping, one of the boys was casually sitting on the floor. No one had ever decided to sit during the reaping, but the boys were pretty sure that it wasn't allowed. It didn't matter that there was no official rule against it—trouble is trouble.

And Lux Ury was going to be in trouble if he didn't get up.

When the orange haired escort for District 1 (a certain Mikan Young) finally stepped onto the stage, Ury sighed, picked himself off the ground, and dusted off his black formal pants. The boys breathed a sigh of relief.

"We'll start with the girls!" squealed Mikan, her orange hair looking even brighter. "Our first tribute is…" Mikan hadn't even reached into the bowl for the girl's name before shouts of 'I volunteer!' started up. But one shout overpowered all the others.

Lux grinned. The girl who stepped up to the platform was sixteen-year-old Service Collector, the daughter of a victor and sibling of two others. Everyone froze. No one else was going to volunteer now, not with Vice in the arena.

No one besides Lux Ury, that is.

"You're sure eager, aren't you?" tittered Mikan. Vice smiled cordially, but anyone could tell she was trying to restrain the impulse to punch Mikan. Mikan grinned, baring blinding gold teeth. "Time for the next girl tribute!" She reached into the bowl, fished around a bit, and brought out a piece of paper. "Glass Pearl."

There was silence.

Everyone knew who Glass was. She was Mayor Pearl's youngest daughter, and this was her first reaping. Everyone in the district adored Glass, and her sixteen-year-old sister, Asla, was a heartthrob among the boys.

Mayor Pearl pointedly averted his eyes from the happenings. Glass, sniffling, slowly walked up to the platform. Before she could even take a few steps, Asla ran up. "I volunteer!" she shrieked, pushing her sister aside.

"Asla…" sniffled Glass, grabbing onto her sister's blue dress.

Asla smiled weakly, whispering to her sister. Despite the distance, Lux was able to read her lips. "Don't worry, m'dear. I've always wanted a good excuse to volunteer." Asla smiled once more, and took the red flower she was wearing in her hair and gave it to her sister.

Lux smirked. These games were going to be interesting.

"Now time for the boys!" sang Mikan. "The first tribute is… Brent Royals!"

Asla's eyes widened. She watched, horror struck, as the red haired boy walked up to the platform. Everyone in the district knew that Brent and Asla were best friends. Brent was very well liked, but everyone knew what with Service in the games, no one was going to volunteer to take his spot. No one except…

"I volunteer."

Gasps rose up from the crowd as Ury casually walked up to the platform. Asla breathed a sigh of relief as Brent walked off of the stage. The seventeen-year-old shot Lux a grateful look, but he ignored it. He stood next to Mikan and shot a cocky grin at Asla and Vice. The two girls rolled their identical emerald eyes. They knew Lux's reputation too well to be flattered.

"Young man, you are stupid!" Mikan hissed into Lux's ear as she fished around for the name of the last male tribute. Even she knew the power of the two girls going into the games.

"No," he smirked. "I'm a winner!"

Mikan rolled her eyes, and turned to the crowd. "Time for the last tribute!" she crowed. She pulled her hand up with a flourish. "The last tribute for District 1 is, Jay Fink!"

A heartbroken cry came from the parents section. Some of the mothers were supporting poor Didi who had collapsed when her son was called. Jay took his spot next to Lux.

"Shake hands!" sang Mikan.

Vice hesitated slightly, and shook Asla's hand. Lux grabbed Jay's hand in a death grip.

"And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"

**XX**

That was six pages on word! Geez… that took a while Lol, I hope you like it tho!

*sigh of relief* Now that was what I call a marathon! There are sooo many tributes to deal with, so I hope I can portray them all right! Please keep in mind, I'm trying my hardest to make your tribute turn out right, but I can't read minds (lol) So I'm doing my best! Please tell me if you want me to change anything/add stuff/etc.

Please review!

**Music:** Kokoro no Chizu (One Piece opening 5) and Kaze o Sagashite (One Piece opening 12) … I have a problem, don't I?


	3. District 2: Reaping

Sorry for the really long wait (real life happened, and I think I would have preferred the Hunger Games in comparison) but I'm back and better than ever! So on with District 2!

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 2: Reaping**

**~Milly Tary~**

Eighteen-year-old Milly Tary found herself at an impasse. She pursed her full red lips, tapped her tiny foot and glared at her dress.

The offending garment was red, and it seemed to be laughing at Milly as she continued to glare at it. Milly tossed her hair and was about to scream when the door slammed open.

Lucy Hale grinned at her best friend and twirled her blond hair. "Guess who found her best friend the perfect dress?" she grinned. Without waiting for Milly to reply, she unveiled the object hidden behind her back.

Milly gasped. The dress was simple but gorgeous, a plain grey color. Milly ran to her dresser and pulled out a pair of black leggings and black boots. She proceeded to put on her new dress, sighing as she felt the smooth fabric-a strange thing to have in a district.

"Where did you get this?"

Lucy winked a green eye and smiled angelically. "You'll never know!"

The door opened and Emily Peace stepped in. "Girls, head out to the reaping now. I can't have my own kid be late, adopted or not!"

Emily Peace and her husband Seth were the head peacekeepers in District 2. Everyone was shocked when the Peace's took in Milly. The Tary's had been killed for speaking out against the President and the Hunger Games. Unlike normal criminals who would have been made into examples, the Tary's were quietly killed. Their death was made to look like an accident.

But everyone knew the truth.

What they didn't know was that the reason the Tary's had been spared public humiliation was because they were close friends with the Peace's. The Peace family had ensured the Tary's would be killed humanely and that Milly would be given a home... not that it really made a big different in the grand scheme of things. Everyone knew the truth already.

On her way out the door, Milly grabbed her money for the week and pulled on her black coat. She grinned at Lucy and held up the wad of cash. Lucy grinned back.

It was time to go.

XX

Milly walked through the cramped streets up to the crying child. "What's wrong?" she asked, kneeling down next to him.

The boy looked up at her with tearstained eyes. "Mommy is sick again," he sniffled, "and we used up all of the last money you…"

The boy was silenced by the money that suddenly appeared in his hands. His eyes widened in shock. "Thank you again, Milly!" he cried, throwing his arms around the girl.

Milly smiled and gently hugged the child back. "No problem, Eli." She looked at the little boy seriously, "Take care of your mother, okay?" Contrary to most of the so-called "wealthy" districts, District 2 had a few people who weren't too well off, and Milly made it her goal to help them.

The boy nodded and happily raced back home. Milly grinned at Lucy, but the happy look was quickly wiped from her face. "Mom…"

**~Verigo Ameres~**

Verigo Ameres reluctantly pulled himself up from the soft ground and brushed wood shavings and dirt from his slacks. Depositing a small piece of wood in his pocket, Verigo slowly made his way to the district square.

A twig snapped and Verigo spun around. His eyes frantically searched the undergrowth for any signs of life. Nothing.

Verigo sighed, turned around, and headed back towards the district. "Get yourself together, man!" Verigo muttered.

Another twig snapped. "Who's there?" asked Verigo, spinning around. "Why are you following me?"

Verigo frowned, hearing more noises from the brush. He tensed, preparing himself for whatever creature that would launch itself from the bushes.

A squirrel appeared.

Verigo let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "I gotta stop being so paranoid…"

The squirrel tilted its head in confusion.

He sighed, and continued on his way towards the square.

XX

Verigo walked through the streets. The children of reaping age were all in their finery, running around while mothers tried to catch them to patch up a knee or tie a bow. There were so many kids in District 2 that the odds of being reaped were slim to none, so no one really worried very much.

Someone tapped Verigo on his shoulder, startling him from his musings. He jumped nearly five feet into the air, getting ready to act in self defense. A giggle behind him brought him back to his senses.

"Oh, it's you."

Sixteen-year-old McKinley Morelia grinned at her friend. "You're gonna be late if you dawdle anymore."

"I wasn't dawdling, I was carving." Verigo reached into his pocket and drew out the small piece of wood. It was intricately carved in the form of a wolf.

McKinley grinned, taking the wooden wolf delicately into her hands. It was perfectly smooth, exact. She could feel the definition of the wolf's muscles and the individual hairs of its pelt.

It was amazing.

McKinley deposited the wolf into the pocked of her dress and started walking again. Verigo ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair and followed the girl. A young couple walked by, holding the hands of a small child between them. Their conversation was loud and easy to pick up.

"You can't have ice cream today, it's a sad day," said the mother.

"Why?" whined the little boy, pouting.

The father sighed. "We'll buy you something tomorrow, ok?"

The boy nodded happily and hugged his father. "Thanks so much Daddy!" he crowed.

McKinley fell into step with Verigo, leaning up to whisper in his ear. "Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Seeing such a happy family… it doesn't make you sad that… you don't have one?"

Verigo shrugged. "It doesn't bother me anymore," he looked at McKinley. "There's no point in crying over spilled milk."

McKinley sighed and changed the topic. "What were you doing this morning?"

"I was talking to a squirrel."

"What!"

"I'm just pulling your leg," Verigo said. He leaned close to McKinley and whispered into her ear. "The truth is that I'm secretly a ventriloquist. I just wanted to practice my skills."

McKinley resisted the urge to fall to the floor laughing. She simply walked on, smiling and shaking her head.

**~Janie Yoo~**

Janie Yoo had gotten a face full of dirt.

Not because she was in a fight. Quite the contrary, actually. Janie Yoo had been walking when her face met the ground in a very unceremonious manner.

Janie Yoo and Lucy Wang had been walking through the square to the section for the sixteen-year-old girls. They were going on their merry way when a small crack in the sidewalk threw the world off balance.

Or, at the very least, threw Janie Yoo off balance.

This was why Janie was currently attempting to gracefully pick herself up from the dirt – a daunting task. Thankfully, it was dusty instead of muddy, so Janie's clothes weren't ruined.

Lucy laughed, picking bits of dust out of her best friends' long, reddish hair. "What's wrong with you, silly?" she teased. "You're usually not this clumsy."

Janie laughed. "Nerves, I guess."

Lucy laughed again and helped brush the remaining dust off from Janie's dress. Janie smiled at Lucy and let herself get pulled to her section for the reaping.

"Come on! We can't be late!"

Janie sighed. "Sorry! My mom rushed me this morning. I didn't get to finish my breakfast!"

Lucy giggled. "You just love to eat!" Seeing her friend's playful glare, Lucy quickly corrected herself. "Sorry, you love to sleep too!" Lucy winked playfully back at her friend who grinned wider.

Janie and Lucy continued towards their sections passing by twelve-year-olds clinging to their mothers, terrified for their first reaping. They moved through the crowded square and entered their section with a few minutes to spare. Taking the spots with the rest of their age girls, Janie and Lucy began to talk about absolutely nothing.

A commotion caught their attention.

Janie turned to see Milly Tary enter the square. Mrs. Peace was practically pulling her adopted daughter's hand, and both of them wore mildly annoyed expressions.

Janie's thoughts quickly shifted from the Peace family to the podium where the Mayor was reading the Treaty of Treason. Lucy pulled her attention away again. "He's looking at you again, Janie!" she whispered.

Janie turned slightly to meet the eyes of a seventeen-year-old boy with shaggy orange-ish hair. Janie blushed and turned away from his piercing gaze. "Why is he always watching me?"

Lucy's reply was cut off by the enthusiastic prattling of the district escort. Zane Ryan had neon green hair and three piercings in his left ear—apparently a new "style" of the Capitol.

"Let's get this reaping started!" he shouted, like one of the Rock Stars in the Capitol. "Ladies first!"

He fished around the bowl and pulled out a piece of paper. "Janie Yoo."

Janie's hands got cold and clammy. _No! It can't be me!_ she trembled, turning to see Lucy's frightened eyes. Janie stopped. _Now isn't the time to panic._ Composing herself, Janie stepped up onto the platform, her face devoid of emotion.

**~Kang Ho~**

With the words "Janie Yoo", Kang's entire world had been blown to bits.

The brown-orange-ish-haired seventeen-year-old could think of nothing that could fix his problems. His life was being slingshot into a dark abyss of despair and doom. No, not thrown. That was too gentle-sounding. His life had been violently slingshot to bad, bad places. Kang Ho was too mentally distraught to come up with something more intelligent and descriptive than "bad, bad places".

Why was Kang so upset? He cared deeply about Janie Yoo, and if he didn't do anything, the one person he could possibly love would be gone.

Now, another person would think, "What if she survives the games?" Kang didn't want to fool himself. The odds were even worse this year, and Janie was too caring to make it far in the Games.

"Are you ok, man?" Kang turned slightly to face his best friend, Joarron. "You've been staring blankly at absolutely nothing for a really long time. You don't look too good…"

Kang shrugged. "It's nothing."

"We both know that's a lie," retorted Joarron. "It's her, isn't it?"

Kang grimaced. "It's that obvious?"

"Blatantly, dude." Joarron grinned and elbowed Kang playfully. "Maybe if you didn't stare at her all the time... Makes a man wonder what you're looking at…" his voice trailed off as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Kang resisted the urge to slap his best friend.

"And the final tribute is… Verigo Ameres!" The brown-haired boy walked up to the platform and Kang panicked.

_The only way I can help her is if I'm there to protect her!_

"I VOLUNTEER!"

Verigo turned around slowly to face Kang, his hair hiding his eyes. "If you were going to volunteer, why didn't you volunteer for him?" he asked, jerking his head in the direction of a terrified twelve-year-old… Eli something.

Kang swallowed. "That's what I meant. I volunteer for him. I just needed some time to build up my courage." The crowd let out a collective "Awww" as Kang walked up onto the platform.

Sobbing hysterically, the boy ran off the stage. Zane cleared his throat. "What an awesome guy!" he shouted.

Kang took the spot the little boy was standing in, in between Verigo and Janie. Kang watched Verigo out of the corner of his eye, but the sixteen-year-old had an unreadable expression on his face. If Kang had his way, Verigo would be dead.

Kang turned to look at Janie, only to find her already watching him. The two watched each other for a few moments, Janie wearing a puzzled look before breaking eye contact. Kang continued to watch hr as she spoke to Milly Tary—the eighteen-year-old heartthrob who stood next on Janie's other side. If Kang had his way, Milly Tary would be dead.

If Kang had his way, he would not return home from the Hunger Games.

**XX**

Since there will be such a ridiculous number of tributes in this story, sometimes, not every tribute will be in every chapter.


	4. District 3: Reaping

Well, on with the story!

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 3: Reaping**

**~Aura Pemberly~**

"Girls! Wake up!"

Seventeen-year-old Aura Pemberly blearily opened her eyes. The dim light entering the room made it easy for Aura's eyes to adjust as she yawned loudly. Stretching her arms above her head, she rolled out of the bed and stepped on something squishy.

"Watch it," muttered Nala, who was in the process of pulling herself off her makeshift bed on the floor when her little sister's foot met her back.

"Stop being so loud…" moaned a muffled voice on the other side of the bed.

Aura smiled softly. "Sorry, Demi," she said. "Nina was calling us downstairs."

Demi groaned and buried herself into the covers more. She stretched herself out so she covered the entire bed, making it impossible for Aura to fall back into it.

Aura stretched her shoulders and finger-combed her caramel brown hair as she picked up the dress her mother had chosen for the reaping. Colleen Pemberly was a thrifty woman, and she always managed to find something nice for her girls to wear despite their precarious financial position. But the sight of this dress made Aura groan.

"Demi? Will you trade dresses with me?"

"Why?"

"It's backless…"

"So?"

"Stupid!" hissed Nala. "She can't show her whipping scars! You know Mom will get teary if she sees them!"

Demi blushed. "Sorry! Of course you can, Aura."

XX

"You look stunning, dear," said Ash Pemberly.

Aura smiled gently and hugged her father's prone figure. "Thanks Dad." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Careful!" Nina pulled her sister away from their paralyzed father. "You almost knocked him over!"

"Sorry," whispered Aura.

The twenty-one-year-old girl's face softened and she hugged her sister. "Be strong, ok?" Aura nodded as she hugged Nina back.

"Be happy, girls!" sang Colleen. "It's Demi's last reaping! And Nala's first year completely free!"

"Demi's probably going to get reaped…" muttered Aura under her breath.

Sadly for her, Nala overheard her comment. "Stop that! Stop being such a pessimist!"

Colleen gave Nala a reproachful look. "Don't be so harsh to Aura, dear. She's been through a lot."

"We've all been through a lot!" retorted Nala. "Calliope's cancer hurt us all!"

Ash's slow voice stopped Nala's angry outburst. "Aura was the closest to Calliope out of us all. The loss was more hurtful to her." Ash turned to face Aura. "She has also paid the heaviest price in trying to make up for my disabilities."

"Don't say that, Dad," Aura hugged her father again.

Colleen tried to change the topic. "We have a real treat for breakfast! Aura stole us some sugar, so I made us pancakes!"

Nala's face brightened as she plopped down between Nina and Aura to eat. Aura tried to not laugh as she watched her family shove food down their throats.

A scream from the door caught their attention. "Pancakes!"

The entire family laughed as Demi ran into the kitchen. No one noticed that the laughter never reached Aura's eyes.

**~Veronica Jinks~**

"You're squinting."

"So are you!"

If there was one thing that bothered Veronica Jinks, it was having her eyes made fun of. Everyone in her family had slanted eyes. Veronica disliked hers because she felt it looked like she was always squinting. Simon always made fun of her.

Veronica felt Simon was being stupid. Her eighteen-year-old brother had the same exact eyes.

"Stop it, you two!" Veronica's mother, Livvy, admonished her children. "Your father is home for the first time in months and this is how you behave?"

Drake Jinks laughed loudly. "Don't worry about it, m'dear! It's wonderful to be home, even if it's for Ver's first reaping."

Simon grinned. "Don't worry about it, Da. Ver'll be alright. Her name is only in there once… you should worry about me!"

While Drake laughed loudly with his son, his wife suddenly scowled.

"What's wrong, Livvy?" asked Drake, taking his wife's hand in his.

"Nothing," she tersely replied.

"Don't try to fool me."

Livvy sighed. "Look over there."

Near the entrance to the square, a group of three women stood gossiping.

"So?"

"Dad!" Veronica whisper-shouted. "It's Genine!" Drake's eyes went wide. "Nice job, genius!" muttered Veronica under her breath.

"Honey?" ventured Drake cautiously. "Losing to Genine in the cooking contest doesn't matter…"

"Now you've done it," groaned Veronica, rolling her eyes.

Livvy scowled even more. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying it's okay to lose? Because let me tell you, mister! It's definitely not okay to lose! Losing is the worst thing anyone in this family can do and thanks to her," Mrs. Jinks glared at Genine, "I've become a hypocrite and gone and lost!"

"Look at her… gossiping with her friends… She's talking about how I lost, I know she is!"

"Naw, she's talking about the reaping."

Livvy frowned as Drake pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry about it, dear. We don't mind."

Livvy sighed. "But I do…"

"Hey, Veronica."

"What, Simon?"

Simon grinned, pushing his long hair out of his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag, dangling it in front of his sister. She gasped.

"Are those raspberries?" she squealed. Simon bared his teeth in a wide grin. Veronica's eyes lit up. "Gimme!" she cried, trying to grab the bag.

Simon lifted the bag out of Veronica's reach, laughing at the sight of the twelve-year-old girl jumping up and down for the bag of fruit.

"Say the magic word!" he grinned.

"Please?"

Simon laughed, and tossed the bag into the air. "Catch!"

**~Lucas Highwind~**

Although Lucas Highwind didn't know it at the time, the word "Catch" would spell his doom.

Well, not his doom, per say. It wasn't really horrible enough to be considered his "doom". However, it was horrible enough to be considered embarrassing.

Or, at the very least, a minor inconvenience.

Lucas was deep in thought. He walked down the streets of District 3 with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket and a bored expression on his face. Lucas was in the process of making a life-changing decision.

Or, he was, until a bag of raspberries landed on his head, closely followed by a tiny girl. Well, the tiny girl didn't land on his head. But she did run into him. And knock him onto the ground. Painfully.

A boy with straight black hair ran up. "Sorry 'bout my sister, man," he said, pulling the girl up. He offered his hand to Lucas. "Need any help?"

Lucas scowled and stood up, ignoring the offered hand. He brushed himself off and began to walk away.

"Wait!"

Lucas stopped and turned slightly. The girl stood a few paces away from him, raspberries in hand. "I'm very sorry," she muttered, running to join the girls for the reaping. Her brother fell into step with Lucas.

"I'm Simon."

"I know."

Simon stood next to Lucas for a bit in the section for eighteen-year-old boys, breaking off to talk to his friends when Lucas responded to his questions with one or two word answers. Lucas stood alone again hands in his pockets, and a bored expression on his face.

~previously~

"Wake up…"

Lucas growled as he wrenched his eyes open. "What do you want?" he spat.

"Now, t-that-hic!" the figure standing above him wobbled slightly. "Thash no way ta tak to your father-hic!" he slurred.

"You're drunk again," Lucas said, disgusted. "Get out!"

His dad shook his head. "You… youse gotta pwomise me somefink first…. Youse gotta say you won wolunteer fo the games-hic!"

"I'll do whatever I want, father," he spat.

~back to the present~

A plan formed in Lucas's mind as he listened to the reaping. While the annoying district escort—a known womanizer named Sid Zen who sported blond hair and curly eyebrows began announcing the tribute's names—Lucas made up his mind.

"Aura Pemberly! Our first—beautiful!—female tribute!"

Lucas was going to volunteer for the Hunger Games. It was a win-win situation. First off, he'd royally piss of his father. Secondly—

"Our second female is… Veronica Jinks! What a cutie!"

—it just sounded like a lot of fun.

**~Simon Jinks~**

Veronica gave her older brother a terrified look as she walked up the steps to the platform. Simon ignored her, choosing instead to skewer Sid with his eyes. If that curly-eyebrowed freak tried to put his hands on his sister… well, District 3 would need a new escort.

Simon cursed under his breath. What if no one volunteered for Veronica? It wasn't like he could. The worst part about being a boy was that Simon couldn't volunteer for his sister.

Now, the question was whether or not he should volunteer to join the Games just to protect her. But then, no matter what, one of them would die.

Simon Jinks was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Well, this situation was a bit more serious than being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Being stuck between a rock and a hard place did nothing to convey the fact that Simon would have to die, or deal with his sister's death. It was more like being stuck between a hungry wolf mutt and his sister's corpse.

Simon shook his head to get the gruesome image out of his mind. He turned his eyes instead to the figure of his best friend, Ella. Maybe he could mind control her into volunteering for Veronica? But no, that would still be bad. Only this time, the corpse would be Ella's, and not Veronica's.

Gasps jolted Simon from his momentary insanity. Standing on the platform was the boy Veronica knocked over. He looked bored out of his mind, his light hair slightly messy, but his brown eyes were fixed on Simon. Even though the boy looked completely out of it, there was a dare in his look at Simon.

Are you going to volunteer like I did? Are you going to protect your sister?

Simon was torn. Luckily—or maybe unluckily—his decision was made for him.

"And our last tribute is… Simon Jinks!"

Details blended together for Simon; walking up the steps to take his spot on the platform; patting Veronica on the head awkwardly as he tried to calm her tears; shaking hands with Lucas who wore a strange expression on his face; walking with the Peacemakers to the Mayor's home; gazing, awestruck, at the rich splendor of the entrance hall; sitting numbly on the couch as him father walked into the room; holding back tears as he spoke to his tearful mother; faking strength for Veronica's benefit; bidding his mother and father goodbye for perhaps the last time; hugging Ella as she ran into the room; telling her softly that he probably wouldn't be coming back and finally, boarding the train that would take him to the Capitol, to his doom.

Simon pressed his nose against the window as he looked at his mother's face. Tears glimmered in the eyes of Livvy Jinks because no matter what, she couldn't win.

**XX**

Woah! That was eight pages… *faints* Well, I hope I got your tributes correct! Please keep reading! And don't forget to review, because you can still sponsor even if you don't have a tribute in!


	5. District 4: Reaping

Stuff goes here ;)

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 4: Reaping**

**~Zeph Raine~**

`Zeph Raine hefted a trident in his hand and hurled it with all his strength at a dummy. The trident hit the dummy, causing one of its arms to magically fall off. Zeph cursed. "I have to hit it right on! Stupid arm won't do a thing!"

"You're driving yourself insane, you know."

Zeph spun around, to find his eyes locked with sea green orbs. He sighed, "I'm sorry, Sele, but I have to do this. I have to do this for her."

Sele sighed, and pulled her brother away from the training field. "You know she doesn't want this."

"I have to avenge her somehow."

"There are better ways," Sele said urgently. "You don't need to throw your life away!"

"I'm not throwing my life away," Zeph growled. "I'm taking action for what I believe in, for what _we_ believe in."

"You can't die for your beliefs."

"Watch me."

"That's just the thing, Zeph," sighed Sele. "I don't want to. None of us want to!"

"Yeah," three other girls joined Zeph and Sele. They were all short, with light brown hair and green eyes—Zeph's little sisters, the triplets.

"You gotta listen to Sele," said Miya.

"Yeah!" agreed Maya. "She's almost as smart as Zoë."

Mika nodded. "Don't throw your life away for Zoë, okay? She wouldn't be happy."

"She's not happy now, it's not like it makes a difference."

"Yes it does!" shouted Sele, snapping. She grabbed her older brother by the shoulders and shook him, tears threatening to leak out of her eyes. "It makes a difference to us! How do you think we'll feel if you don't come back? Mom can't deal with things without you! She lost Dad, she lost Zoë, don't make her suffer more! Don't make _me_ suffer more!"

Zeph let out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, Sele. But I have to do this. I have to avenge Zoë. I am going to volunteer, and nothing you do can stop me."

Sele looked at Zeph with sad, teary eyes. She brushed his dark brown hair out of his face and pursed her lips. "Don't do anything stupid, or foolish, or crazy, or reckless, or…" she choked back a sob. "Just don't die!"

Zeph smiled and hugged Sele. Mika, Miya, and Maya ran up and hugged him as well. He held his little sisters and stood still for a moment before breaking apart from them and walking away.

"I'll teach the Capitol to never mess with my family!"

**~Hue Storme ~**

"Hue!" a voice shouted. "Hue!"

Hue Storme fought the urge to scream and kept walking. Maybe if he acted like he couldn't hear her, she'd just disappear. Mothers. They had a way of getting under your skin.

They also had a way of following you around everywhere trying to convince you to wear nicer clothes for the reaping. Hue didn't get what the big deal was. Just because this was his last reaping doesn't mean that he needs to dress nice. In fact, what he wore didn't matter at all.

But clearly, it mattered to Mrs. Kae Storme, Hue's single mother.

Mrs. Kae Storme was the success story of District 4. When her husband died in a freak storm four years ago, everyone thought that the Storme family would suffer horribly. But not on Kae's watch. Kae took over her husband's job and found she was very good at it. She forced her eldest son, Hue, to start working as well.

Now, Hue was perfectly content to not work in District 4 for his entire life. When they say that everyone in District 4 likes water, they were wrong. It wasn't that Hue hated water, or feared water. He just didn't like it. If he had a choice between drinking milk – a delicacy in District 4 – and water, he'd pick milk. Not because it was a delicacy (but that did influence his choice a bit). He just wasn't fond of water.

But the thing about District 4 was that every single job involved water. For someone who doesn't like water, getting a job they would like in District 4 is almost impossible. So Hue had to suck it up and get a job on a fishing boat. He was the person who hauled up the nets, cut the fish out of them, and prepared the fish to be preserved. Hue was very happy with his job. Not.

Sadly for Hue, his 'ignore and hope it disappears' strategy didn't work. In fact, it had the opposite intended effect. His mother ran up to him. "How dare you ignore me, young man!" she shrieked. Well, not really shrieked, but 'said in a very loud and stern tone that was mildly painful to the ears'.

"Your sisters made this for you!" said Kae, holding up a pin. Hue blanched. It was _adorable_.

Hue hated adorable (not as much as he hated water, but it was pretty up there on his 'list of things I absolutely cannot stand').

It was a pin with a mouse on it, and it had flower designs drawn around it in crayon. Kae hummed to herself as she pinned it on her son's dark grey shirt. She looked at him and scowled.

"Hue?"

"Hn."

"Why are you wearing swim trunks to a reaping?"

**~Oceana Harpin~**

"Oceana, Elliot's looking for you!"

Oceana Harpin looked at her best friend, Jenny Gavin, in confusion. "I just kissed him goodbye three seconds ago."

"I know," Jenny rolled her eyes. "But you know how he is!"

Oceana laughed and ducked out of the roped off section for seventeen-year-old girls. She ran up to her boyfriend and gave him a hug. Elliot grinned, and kissed her, tangling his hands in her sandy blonde hair.

The two broke apart and Oceana smiled. "Did you miss me?"

Elliot grinned, tossing his light brown hair out of his eyes. "Yup."

"I was gone for three minutes."

"Three minutes and fourteen seconds."

Oceana laughed. "I know you, Elliot. That's not why you're here. What's up?"

Elliot sighed, his eyes flicking towards the section for twelve-year-old girls. "Are you going to be okay? It's her first reaping."

Oceana gulped. "Her name is only in there once…" she whispered. "Ink'll be fine!"

"But what if Ink does get reaped?" pressed Elliot.

"Then I'll volunteer for her!" said Oceana, glaring at Elliot as if daring him to object. "I won't let my sick little sister go into the Games, even if I have to die to prevent that!"

"Don't talk like that," Elliot whispered, hugging Oceana. The couple was startled out of their conversation by the Mayor clearing his throat loudly.

"I better get back, okay?" whispered Oceana. Elliot nodded, kissing her on the forehead and walking swiftly to stand with the spectators. It was his first year not a part of the reaping.

District 4's escort, a young woman – a girl really – with Ocean blue hair and water tattoos all along her skin, walked up to the podium. "Hey everyone! It's me, Blue Skye! And let's get this reaping going!"

With a flourish, Blue reached into the bowl for girls. "Ladies first…" she said, her voice trailing off.

She grinned widely. "Our first tribute for the 30th Quarter Quell is… Oceana Harpin!"

Oceana froze. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to get reaped! Although her family wasn't the wealthiest in the district, Oceana never had to take tessera. Her name was only in there a few times! How was she chosen?

She composed herself carefully; making sure her green eyes betrayed no emotion. As she walked up to the podium, one desperate thought was on her mind. _Someone will volunteer for me, right?_

Wrong.

Oceana had horrible luck, because all of the future Careers were one year younger than she was. They were going to wait a year or so before trying their hand at the games.

"Our next tribute is…" Oceana was the only one who saw the momentary look of despair on Blue's face as she read the piece of paper. "Ink Harpin."

**~Kaela Odair~**

"Kaela O-freaking-dair! What are you doing?"

Kaela Odair looked up from her boat to see her friend, Nymph, steaming. Quite literally, steaming. Kaela could see the smoke coming out of her ears and head. No, wait… that was a chimney. Oops.

Nymph stomped up to the shore. "Get back here this instant, Kaela! Or we'll be in so much trouble!"

Kaela laughed, fixing the ties on her red bikini. "What's got your hair in a knot, Nymph? I'm oyster diving! Like I do every morning!"

Kaela dove off the boat and came back up a few seconds later with an oyster in her hands. "See?"

Nymph growled. "Get back here right now!"

Kaela climbed back into the boat and sighed. "Seriously? What's wrong?"

"The reaping, you idiot!" shrieked Nymph, throwing up her arms. "We're missing the freaking reaping!"

Kaela's eyes widened. "Oh…" She bowed her head sheepishly. "I'll be coming back now…"

"Like hell you will!"

"What did I miss so far?" called Kaela as she rowed back to the shore.

"Oceana Harpin got reaped, and so did her little sister."

"Ink?" asked Kaela, her eyes widening. "She's sick though!"

"Yeah," Nymph's brown eyes got sad. "No one volunteered for either of them."

Kaela got her boat up to the dock, and tied the mooring rope securely. She jumped off and ran to Nymph. "Did the boys get reaped yet?"

"No, I snuck out before that started."

"Let's hurry!"

The girls began to sprint back to the square. In the distance, a male voice shouted, "I volunteer!"

Nymph's eyes furrowed. "I think that was Raine."

"Really?"

"Why are you so surprised? Ever since Zoë died, it was only a matter of time before he volunteered."

Kaela frowned. "I thought he would wait another year. Give himself more time to train."

Nymph shrugged. "I don't get it either, but who knows. Let him be, I say!"

"And our last tribute is… Hue Storme!"

"No one's gonna volunteer now," said Nymph. "Not with Zeph in the games. And no one is going to take Hue's spot either."

"Yeah," said Kaela. "I think everyone was secretly hoping he'd get reaped. He is our best chance at victory."

"But he would never volunteer himself."

"Poor Ink," whispered Kaela.

"No one's gonna volunteer for her now…"

Kaela shook her head. "No, I can't let that happen!"

"What? You don't mean…"

The girls ran into the square and skid to a stop. They were both panting heavily while all the eyes in the square moved towards them.

"And may the odds be…"

"STOP!" shrieked Kaela. "I volunteer for Ink Harpin!"

**XX**

Type a notice here… :)


	6. District 5: Reaping

SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! *keep reading to find my lame-ass excuse*

Ah… Tomas's section is a bit short ^^' sorry! I find it difficult to write about characters who are described as "shy", because I feel that the way to truly develop a character is through their interactions with other characters… but when a character is shy, my brain dies.

Basically, my inability to write about shy characters was the reason this took me so long to finish. Thankfully, a dinosaur ate my writer's block, so I'm good now

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 5: Reaping**

**~Katya Ivanova~**

"So girls? How do I look?"

Katya Ivanova flipped her blonde hair and spun around to face her crowd of admirers. That's all they were, admirers. None of the ditzy girls were close enough to Katya to be considered, "friends".

And who cared? Katya didn't need friends.

"Omigosh! You look amazing, Katya!" gushed a girl with a short brown bob.

"Totally!" squealed a girl with curly red hair. "You look like a Goddess in that dress!"

Katya smirked knowingly. "You think?" she asked, spinning.

The girls surrounding her squealed as her white dress twirled around her legs. "Gorgeous!" Sure they were shallow. Sure they were kinda dumb. But they certainly knew the right thing to say to her all the time.

It was nice to have a bunch of mindless followers.

XX

"Katya!"

Katya stopped, smoothed her dress down, and turned around. Upon turning around, the fake smile she had plastered on her face disappeared.

A girl stood in front of Katya, hunched over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Katya gave her a once-over and frowned.

"Looks like a little mouse has come to speak to me, girls!" Katya's Lemmings giggled mindlessly, raising hands with perfectly manicured nails to cover perfectly glossed lips.

The little mouse looked up shyly. Her slight figure was nothing remarkable. Her eyes were a decidedly plain brown and her hair was, for lack of better description, mousy.

"What to you want?" Katya lifted her chin imperiously.

Mouse gulped. "Umm…"

"Speak up, pipsqueak!" snapped Katya. "I can't hear you!"

"I… I was won-wondering… if… Can I be your friend?" The girl gulped, waiting to be shouted at. Mouse's jaw almost fell off when Katya smiled.

"Well, then… Mouse," Katya brushed back her blond hair. "Of course you can be my friend!" she said in a sugary-sweet voice.

Mouse's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much Katya!" she gushed.

Katya scowled and motioned to the bobbed brunette girl. The girl pushed Mouse, sending the tiny girl tumbling to the floor.

"That's Mistress to you!" snapped Katya. "You haven't earned the right to call me by name yet!"

Katya smirked cruelly down at Mouse. Even with such an evil look on her face, Katya was still stunningly beautiful. "Until you become one of us," Katya gestured to her clique, "You're our errand dog!"

Katya laughed, joined by the other girls. Suddenly, she stopped, furrowing her brow and thinking. "Oh! I'm sorry!" Katya turned to the tiny girl. "I meant, errand _Mouse_!"

**~Locke Amaranth~**

The first thing that Locke Amaranth noticed when he woke up was that it was really bright. The second thing Locke Amaranth noticed when he woke up was that his mother was trying – and failing – to pull him out of bed. The third thing Locke Amaranth noticed when he woke up was that the calendar on the wall had today circled with the words "REAPING OF DOOM" written on it in giant letters.

Oops.

Locke Amaranth had slept in – again.

Locke scrambled out of bed and ran into his mother. She wordlessly handed him a rumpled pair of slacks and a light-blue button down shirt while looking at him disapprovingly. He quickly pulled the slacks on over his boxers and tugged the shirt on over his head of unruly blonde hair. He tried (and failed) to convince his hair to lie flat and then grabbed his coat off the side of his chair while sprinted out the door. Locke was pretty impressed with himself because throughout the entire occurrence, he didn't trip a single time.

As he ran towards the square, he wondered why his alarm didn't go off. He could have sworn he turned it on. Riki probably turned it off, thinking he was helping his big brother. Or maybe he turned it off to play a prank on his big brother. Either option was equally likely.

Oh, Riki. Locke's number one cause of despair on a daily basis. Now, it wasn't that Locke didn't love his little brother. He did. It was just really, really hard for Locke to get along with an annoying brat who spent his every waking hour trying to make his big brother's life a waking nightmare.

But Locke wasn't a vindictive person. He knew that if Riki was reaped, he would volunteer for him. Although Riki acted strong and tough, he was a coward at heart. Locke knew the odds in the Games would never be in his brother's favor. But then again, the odds were in favor of Riki already. He was just twelve – his name was only in the reaping once. The odds of Riki actually getting reaped were slim to none.

But the same couldn't be said for him. Locke knew the odds were against him. He was probably going to be reaped this year. Although the Amaranth's were relatively well off, Locke still had to take tessera. Compared to the other kids of reaping age, Locke took the most tessera. Most of the other kids who had a lot of tessera had older brothers or sisters who would volunteer for them at the drop of the hat. Not so much for Locke though.

In District 5, kids rarely volunteered to join the games. Sure, they were a pretty wealthy district, but compared to the Careers of 1, 2 and 4, 5 had absolutely nothing. There were a few kids who trained for the games, but they were all young. No way they would volunteer for Locke.

Locke Amaranth had pretty much accepted his undeniable, unchangeable fate. If his odds were what he thought they were (and they definitely were. Locke was never wrong about statistics) he was going to the Hunger Games, and there was nothing he could do about it.

**~Eurydice "Snake" Visconti~ **

"Eurydice!"

Eurydice Visconti turned to face her mother, her hand hovering over the doorknob. Heather Visconti frowned and looked at her daughter disapprovingly. Eurydice shrank a bit under her mother's stare and walked back to the table. She took her seat in between her father, Seward, and her ten year old brother, Baxley. Or maybe it was the other twin, Bay.

The mystery twin started pouring sugar into his cereal—it was definitely Baxley. The kid had a horrible addiction to sugar. Bay, meanwhile, detested sugar and anything slightly sweet-ish.

"Snake!" shouted Bay. "Are you nervous for the reaping?"

Eurydice shook her head. Seward gripped his spoon tightly and Heather dabbed her eyes. "There's nothing to be nervous of!" she said in a falsely cheerful voice. "Eurydice won't get reaped, will you dear?"

_I can't control that_, thought Eurydice. But she simply replied, "Of course, Mum."

Heather burst into tears of relief. "Thank goodness! You won't leave me like Jolie did!"

Tears threatened to overflow from Snake's eyes. This was why she was trying to avoid family breakfast. On reaping days, she always, inevitably, remembered her sister. Jolie Visconti had been in the Hunger Games two years ago. Jolie Visconti had died in the Hunger Games two years ago.

XX

Eurydice stood with the other 14 year old girls, waiting for the reaping to start. The Mayor finished his speech and the district escort, Monke D'Louf, stepped up to the podium. Monke was a lean but heavily muscled man with olive skin, unruly spiky black hair, and a scar under his eye. For a person from the Capitol, he looked pretty normal. Snake couldn't decide if the scar was natural or merely added for whatever the Capitol considers, "style".

Honestly, Snake didn't really care. The Capital people were strange no matter what.

"Hey everyone!" screamed Monke at the top of his lungs. "Let's get this party started!" Monke skillfully ignored the lack of response from the district, instead reaching into the bowl of girls' names and pulling out a slip of paper.

"Our first tribute is… Hedy Ebadi!"

Horrified gasps rose up from the crowd. A fourteen-year-old girl, guided by a Peacekeeper, slowly made her way up the steps to the stage. When she turned to face the crow, the whispering escalated.

A blind girl had just been reaped for the Hunger Games.

Time stopped for Snake as she brushed her dark hair out of her eyes. She could easily see the happenings on the stage—she was a full head taller than most of the girls her age. As such, she could clearly see the tears beginning to drip out of Hedy's eyes.

The crowd muttered and squirmed uncomfortably. Reaping age girls awkwardly avoided the blind girl's eyes – even though Hedy couldn't see them, they still felt guilty.

Eurydice sucked in her breath and steeled herself. Her family would never forgive her. Gosh, she would never forgive herself! In a clear voice, she shouted, "I volunteer!" The panicked scream of Heather Visconti evoked a stream of tears from Snake's eyes.

_I'm sorry, Mum._

**~Tomas Franc~**

As shocked gasps sprung from the onlookers, Tomas Franc was… otherwise occupied.

"I dunno, Jace," muttered the dark-haired Peacekeeper in front of Tomas. "I could have sworn he was ten… at most twelve!"

"Alec! I know this kid!" the blonde Peacekeeper stomped his foot childishly. The overall effect was quite odd – a buff man acting like a two-year-old. "His name is Franc and he's fifteen!"

"I don't believe you!" Alec stubbornly retorted. Tomas just sighed.

Immediately, two pairs of pissed off eyes turned to face the skinny blonde boy.

Tomas brushed his hair out of his eyes and raised his hands defensively. "Why would I be with the reaping age kids if I wasn't of reaping age?"

Alec scowled, bringing his face uncomfortably close to the boy's. "Maybe you wanted a better view for the reaping!"

Jace sighed. "While that would be a reasonable hypothesis for Districts 1, 2, or 4, that's a bit ridiculous for here." Jace clapped Alec on the back. "Face it, man. You were wrong."

Alec ignored Jace, choosing instead to growl at Tomas. "Get back to your section!"

As Tomas returned to his spot with the other boys, Monke drew the name for the first boy in the Games. The boy would join Snake and Ivanova.

"And the first male tribute for District 5 is…"

You could practically hear the mental groans of the watchers as Monke paused for dramatic effect. _Just be done with it, man!_

"Riki Amaranth!"

The twelve-year-old boy had barely stepped forward before his older brother ran out of the seventeen-year-old section. Locke ran straight forward and jumped onto the stage as if a single seconds' delay would cost him his brother's life.

"I volunteer!" he gasped.

Monke grinned. "Now, it's time for the last tribute!" he screamed.

He dipped his hand back into the bowl and went fishing. He finally pulled out a small folded piece of paper. Upon opening it, he laughed.

"Well, whadda ya know!" he said. He turned to Locke and grinned. "You were destined for these games, kid!" Locke tried to grin half-heartedly at Monke. It came out looking more like a tortured grimace. The crowd groaned.

Once again, everyone held their breath as D'Louf reached into the bowl. Monke began to make funny faces as he tried to grab a slip of paper. No one laughed.

"Our last tribute is… Tomas Franc!"

_Well. That royally stinks._

**XX**

:D


	7. District 6: Reaping

I dislike midterms immensely. They kill my brain cells. Those don't grow back, you know.

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 6: Reaping**

**~Daya Allele~**

"Daya! I didn't think you were coming in today!"

Fourteen-year-old Daya Allele turned around and blinked slowly, making her large blue eyes appear owlish. "Why wouldn't I be here today?" She looked down at the floor to avoid the eyes of the twenty-one-year-old medical scientist she had been trailing for the past month. "I lose a day, I lose experience, Gavin."

"Daya," said Gavin gently. "Today is the reaping."

Daya gave Gavin an indecipherable look. "So?"

Gavin sighed. This girl was something else entirely. "Don't you want to spend time with your family before the reaping?"

"Why?" asked Daya. "Father is working at the Alteration lab and Mum and Hant are conducting a big experiment on DNA splicing. The only ones at home are the twins. And they're still sleeping."

"I thought Wendy was an early riser?"

"She is, but Devaroy decided to have coffee last night… needless to say, Wendi got pulled into her brother's prank."

Gavin gave Daya an appraising look. "I think that's the most I've heard you say in the last five years!" He grinned at her good-naturedly to let her know he was only joking. … mostly joking.

Daya just shrugged. She moved to the lab table where her experiment was set up, removing three Petri dishes and preparing slides to place under the microscope. Gavin rolled his eyes at her movements.

"You're the only person I know who'd come here on reaping day… well, with the exception of Nikolai."

Daya raised her head slightly and gave Gavin a puzzled look.

"Nikolai Antimony. He's a year older than you," he clarified. "He got a spot on the big research team…"

"The one that's trying to find a way to neutralize the side effects of fox mutations?"

"Yeah, that's the one, but he's working on a different project right now," said Gavin. "He's a hard worker, but he's kind of arrogant at times."

Daya shrugged, and turned back to her Petri dishes. Gavin rolled his eyes.

"I talked to you for more than a minute, my work here is done!" grinned Gavin. As he walked out of the door, he threw a passing comment over his shoulder. "I'll send Antimony down to get you for the reaping. Don't want you to lose track of the time!"

Daya absently waved goodbye to Gavin, finally having a chance to turn her full attention to the Petri dish. A few people in Quadrant C of the Capitol were developing strange flu-like symptoms. Swab samples from around Q-C were put in Petri dishes and automatically shipped to District 6 to find out what the mystery microbe was.

Daya had been assigned to "dish duty". She had to monitor the Petri dishes and record the different microbes present in each sample. The job was actually perfect to her. Many other interns, when put on "dish duty", had missed the microbe that was the cause of the infection in question.

Daya never missed. Ever.

**~Renn Sorrell~ **

"If you keep reading and walking at the same time, you're going to run into someone."

"Tell me, Rowane," asked Renn, his eyes not moving from the book in his hands. "Have I ever run into anyone yet?"

"There's always room for change!" said Rowane, rolling her brown eyes playfully.

"Hey! Rowane!" A tiny blonde girl ran up to Renn's best friend. "Are you nervous?"

Rowane shrugged. "Aren't we all?"

"He doesn't seem to be." Renn brushed his black hair out of his eyes and continued reading.

"It takes a while to learn to read him," grinned Rowane. "Took me about three years!"

"Don't go spreading my secrets around, Row," said Renn, dodging a teacher with a giant stack of books, never once looking up from his own text.

The girl leaned closer to Rowane. "Seriously, though? Why do you hang out with him? Anyone in this school would die to be your friend."

Rowane shot the girl a disapproving glare. The girl had the decency to look chastened. "He's my friend, and that's reason enough," said Rowane, with a note of finality in her voice. Renn flipped another page.

"Sorry about her," sighed Row. "I know they don't bother you… but I still feel bad…"

Renn simply shrugged. He stopped in the middle of his path, startling Rowane. "What are you…"

"Lex."

A burly boy stood in front of Renn, towering over the boy. Renn was always short for his age, and the abnormally tall pre-teen in front of him only served to further accentuate the fact.

"Dude, can I see your test? We gotta do some test corrections, but I don't know the answers."

"Why don't you just," Renn turned the page, "do the work yourself? If you look through, the textbook, you can find the right answers."

"Not everyone is as smart as you."

"I'm not smart, just average."

Lex snorted. "Average doesn't include the genius kid who gets all A's."

"It's not that difficult."

"Dude, can I have that paper or not?" Renn turned a page.

"I highly doubt you would do the work without. I might as well give it to you and spare some poor kid a bloody nose."

"Yeah," Lux crossed his arms in an intimidating manner. "You should do that."

"But that would be cheating," Renn turned another page, "and I do not condone cheating."

Renn simply walked past Lux without another word. Rowane quickly followed Renn as Lux's mouth hung open like a fish out of water. The tension was thick in the air; one could practically eat it.

Renn Sorrell didn't even notice. He just turned another page.

**~Nikolai Antimony~**

Nikolai tried to suppress the stream of curses that left his mouth as he knocked over a beaker. The beaker in question contained a newly developed acidic compound that was extremely corrosive. Or at least, it _had_ contained it. The aforementioned "extremely corrosive acidic compound" was currently working its magic on Nikolai's fairly new dress pants. Clearly, it wasn't a good idea to wear reaping clothes to the lab.

And here Nikolai thought he was being efficient.

After a frenzied moment of trying to find the basic cleaning detergent, Nikolai managed to stop the acid from burning a hole straight through his leg. He breathed a sigh of relief; the only damage done was a few small tears on his dress pants. His legs were spared.

Not that Nikolai was new to acid burns. He had a wonderful collection of them covering his arms.

Nikolai fixed his black rimmed glasses and glanced up at the clock. He almost screamed in frustration. _I forgot to get Daya!_

Nikolai quickly cleaned out the beakers he was using, putting them back into the cabinets and firmly locking the doors. He returned what remained of the acid into the back room, which he locked with three different locks. He then put the keys into a different cabinet, locked that cabinet with a key on a silver chain around his neck. Tucking the key under his lab coat, he proceeded to take off his protective gloves and dispose of them in the trash. Then, he hung his coat up and sprinted down the stairs.

A few seconds later, he realized that he had left his bag in the room. He turned around, sprinted back upstairs, grabbed, his bag, and ran out to get Daya. For real, this time.

XX

Nikolai burst into lab room 619, noisily slamming the door open. The room's only occupant, scrawny girl bent over a microscope, nearly had a heart attack.

Nikolai grinned sheepishly, ruffling his black hair. "Sorry 'bout that… I'm Nikolai Antimony… I was supposed to get you so we could go to the reaping, but…"

The girl, Daya, looked up at the clock. Her light blue eyes went wide, making her look even more surprised. "We're really late!"

"Yeah," Nikolai shrugged, fidgeting. "I spilled this new acidic compound all over myself… I helped design it."

Daya just looked at him.

"Well, I guess we should get going…" Nikolai trailed off.

Daya smiled slightly and pointed to the rips in his slacks. "It seems like you made a very good acid."

Nikolai grinned. "Yeah, I guess I did!" He made his way towards Daya and started replacing the covers on the Petri dishes. "Come on! Let's get to the reaping!"

**~Kaylin~**

_To volunteer or to not volunteer… that is the question. There's no reason not to volunteer. Being in the games would be infinitely more interesting that being in District 6. And it isn't like anyone is holding me back._

Kaylin stood in the section for sixteen-year-old girls, waiting for the reaping to start. She angrily brushed through her honey blonde hair that hung around her shoulders. Her mother had insisted that she wear her hair down for the reaping, and Kaylin was less that pleased.

"Can I borrow a hair tie?" The red-head standing next to Kaylin nodded and passed her a brown tie. Kaylin sighed in relief and put her hair up into a messy bun. Like usual, a few strands escaped the tie, but it was much more welcome than having her hair down.

The Mayor of District 6 stepped up to the podium and began to read the Treaty of Treason. The camera crews buzzed to life, each person competing for the best angle of the old lady. A few minutes later, the district escort, Chio Pinoc, stepped up onto the podium.

Chio was a dark-skinned man with a grossly long nose. Many kids in the district placed bets on whether or not Chio's nose was real. Most people thought it was fake. After all, who could naturally have a nose that big?

"Hey everyone!" screamed Chio. "Let's get this reaping rolling!"

He reached into the bowl with the girls names on it. "Stacy Kassen!"

An eighteen-year-old girl with pitch-black hair stepped up onto the stage. Kaylin looked towards the parents section to see a woman crying hysterically. Kaylin's mother had a proud grin on her face.

Kaylin's mouth twisted into a smile. _Why not? Why not volunteer for the games?_ Living a Victor's life would be pretty awesome, and Kaylin definitely would win.

Kaylin raised her hand up. "I volunteer!" A horrified look passed over her parents' faces. Kaylin couldn't care less.

She gave herself a quick once-over (perfect, like usual) before stepping up onto the stage. Proudly standing next to Chio, Kaylin seized up her competition.

"The next girl is… Dayaaaa Alleleeee!" roared Chio.

A tiny girl with short black hair stepped onto the stage. She was trembling. Kaylin recognized her and smiled gently. Daya smiled back, a look of relief on her face. Inside, Kaylin grinned to herself. _One down, two more to charm._

"Time for the boys! Our first male tribute is… Nikolai Antimony!"

Daya's eyes widened in shock as a boy wearing glasses stepped up onto the stage. He gave Daya a helpless shrug. "You two know each other?" asked Kaylin.

"We just met this morning," frowned Nikolai. Kaylin shook her head sympathetically and patted the boy on the shoulder.

"Our last tribute for this year is… Renn Sorrell!"

No one moved. Chio cleared his throat and repeated himself. "Renn Sorrell!"

A commotion arose from the section of fourteen-year-old boys. "Get your nose out of that book, genius!"

"You just got reaped!"

A boy walked up onto the stage, a book in his hands. He nervously brushed his hair out of his eyes and held the book closer to himself. He looked more upset over the fact that he couldn't finish his book. Kaylin looked to see the title, _Treasure Island_. She grinned. _Time for Number 3!_

"You like _Treasure Island?_" she asked under her breath.

"It's one of my favorites," replied the boy. Kaylin smiled at him hesitantly, and he returned it.

_Hook, line, and sinker._

Chio grinned. "May the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"

**XX**

I hope you like it! Please tell me what you think, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!


	8. District 7: Reaping

Another chapter already? IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD! SIVER-NIGHTSTORM IS UPDATING! Okies, I'm done

**Disclaimer: **So it just came to my attention that I haven't been posting these. But seriously? If I owned the Hunger Games, I wouldn't be sitting here in my family room, on my laptop, typing away. I would be at the publisher's office making my twisted wishes for the characters of this series come true. Basically, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction. Big shocker there. Seriously though. I really don't own anything in this story except for my two tributes, the prologue, and whatever twisted shenanigans that I make your tribute fall into. Yup. That's me. I own zilch. Zippo. Nada. Nil. Zero. Absolutely, positively, nothing.

I think my point has been made, no? (I needed a disclaimer to make up for… ten chapters without them )

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 7: Reaping**

**~Ash Boxelder~**

Thunder rumbled. Lightning flashed. Ash Boxelder awoke with a bloodcurdling scream.

The room was silent. Panting in her bed, Ash calmed herself down. Faintly, thunder rumbled. Lightning flashed. Ash shrieked and pulled her covers closer to herself, curling into a little ball on her bed. She trembled, the thin sheets covering her compact frame doing little to block the harsh glare of the lightning.

Another flash filled the room. Ash whimpered.

"It's just light… nothing scary," she whispered to herself. An image of a burning tree crashing through a house flashed across her eyes. There was screaming, and crying. Ash whimpered again, drawing the sheets closer to her body. She buried her face in her pillow and tried to drown out the noises of the storm. It was going to be a long night.

XX

"Ash! Wake up!"

Ash opened her eyes to darkness. After a few moments of panicked fumbling, she managed to get the blanket off of her head. She looked around, disoriented for a few moments. Sunlight streamed into her room through the window, and the sound of pots and pans banging could be heard downstairs. Judging from the number of swear words she could hear, her father was trying to cook.

Ash giggled a bit. "I should go downstairs before he burns the house down…"

Sighing, she attempted to get out of her bed. What she failed to notice was that the sheets on her bed were completely wrapped around her person, and when she started to take a step forward, she fell on her face. Painfully.

Ash groaned. She lay on the floor for a few moments, regaining her bearings. Finally, she picked herself up off of the ground and grabbed her hairbrush off of the nightstand and ran it through her tangled brown locks. After a few moments, her hair rested in light waves around her shoulders.

Ash rubbed her hip and groaned. "That hurt…" she muttered as she pulled on her nice dress for the reaping. She walked out of her room and down the stairs. The swearing got progressively louder. More clattering and the sound of metal meeting flesh made Ash run into the kitchen. Her father, an average looking lumberjack of about fifty years, was in the process of picking up a pan from the ground while nursing what appeared to be a slightly red bruise on his bald head.

He looked up to see his daughter walk into the room. "Hey, Ash," he grinned cheerfully despite the growing bump on his head, "I was making breakfast!" He gestured behind him to the plates of poached eggs resting on the table. He had been putting the pan (empty of boiling water, thankfully) back into the cabinet when it somehow managed to fall on his head. It was strange how things like that seemed to happen.

Ash frowned. "Dad, you know I don't like my eggs poached."

"Honey, I thought it would be good for you to try something new…" her father's voice trailed off at the sight of her glare. He rubbed his now purple bruise self-consciously.

"I like my eggs scrambled. And _only_ scrambled."

Mr. Boxelder sighed and put the pan back onto the stove. "Scrambled it is, dear."

**~Balsa Durian~**

"I promise I won't get reaped, Torreya."

"But what if you do? You can't control the reaping!"

"Then I promise I'll come back home!"

Eighteen-year-old Balsa Durian stood in the district square with his girlfriend, Torreya Sumac, sobbing into his shirt. She pulled away, rubbing the tears out of her brown eyes and smiled at him forlornly.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I'm so stupid… I got your only nice shirt ruined."

Balsa didn't even look down at the shirt, concentrating instead on the hysterical girl he was holding.

"This is my last reaping, Tor," he said gently, wiping her tears away. "I swear, I will make it out alive!"

Tor nodded, hugging him again. Balsa gently kissed her on top of her head. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a young, dark haired boy trying to catch his attention.

He tilted Torreya's face up so he could look her in the eye. "I have to go now, hmm?" he said. "Ash is calling."

Torreya saw the boy waving and nodded. She ran off to join the section for seventeen-year-old girls. Balsa smiled and made his way over to his family. The seven members of the Durian clan stood in a huddle. They were nervous, and rightfully so.

This was Balsa's last reaping, and he probably wouldn't make it out. The Durian family was pretty poor, so every single child had to take tessera for every year that they were in the games. Balsa's two older brothers, Yew and Ginko, were in their early twenties and couldn't take anymore tessera. His two younger sisters, Kalmia and Lyonia had just began to take tessera for the family. Ash was still too little.

The worst part of the situation his family was in was the fact that even with all the tessera, it was almost impossible for everyone to go asleep with a full belly. Taking tessera for seven people added up, and Balsa's brothers both had a large number of slips in the bowl – and that was before they started taking tessera for Ash. Balsa had even more. Balsa wasn't very good at math, but he knew that the odds were definitely not in his favor.

Ceiba Durian ran up to her son and hugged him. Balsa could see his father, Hemlock, from over his mother's shoulder. The stern man simply nodded at his son.

Ceiba sniffled. "Now, you listen here!" she said. "When they're drawing the lots, you pray to every single being you can think of, and then you make some up! Be careful!" She sniffled again and hugged her son, before shooing him off to join the rest of the eighteen-year-olds.

**~Carter Mason~**

"Did you get it?"

Seventeen-year-old Carter Mason looked out the window to see an upside down head. He sighed. "What are you doing, Tommy?" he groaned.

The blonde boy grinned, flipping himself the right way and swinging in through the window. "You were taking too long, man. I started to think that Harietta had caught you or something…"

Carter gave his best friend a big, cheesy grin. "Really, Tommy? You know me, I never get caught!"

Tommy sighed. "How many times have I told you to not call me that?"

Carter rolled his eyes, "Dunno… When you speak, it's just a lot of empty noise in my head so I…" The door slammed open and Carter froze, his hand gripping the silverware in his hands tighter. "Let's get outa here before Mull catches us!"

Tommy didn't need to be told twice. He jumped back upon onto the countertop and grabbed the top of the window sill. When his feet disappeared from view Carter followed him, making sure he didn't leave any scuff marks.

On the roof, the boys ran across until the reached a tree. Tommy made the jump first, and shimmied down the side of the tree. Halfway down, he froze. Carter opened his mouth to ask what was going on. Tommy made a 'shut up!' gesture. The window right under Carter's feet opened and a head full of brown hair peeked out. "Hmmm… just the wind?"

Carter's heart beat faster and faster. The window slammed shut and he let out a breath of relief. Tommy shot him a grin that he matched. "Another close one!" he said. "That was fun!"

Tommy rolled his eyes, jumping the rest of the way down the tree. "It's not over yet, man!"

Carter grinned. He took a few steps back and ran towards the tree, barely clearing the gap. Scrambling with one hand – the other still held the liberated silverware – he got his footing on the tree, and shimmied down to the unsteady braches at the top. Seven feet above the ground, he jumped off and landed with a roll.

His roll took him right into a mud puddle.

Tommy snickered. "It was your genius idea to wear our reaping clothes here!"

Carter shrugged, pulling his jacket off. "There!" he said, leaving himself in spotless jeans, with a cotton shirt and a sports shirt on top.

"You should dress up, like me!" Tommy grinned, showing off his collared shirt and slacks.

Carter snorted. "Yeah, right!" Carter vaulted over the fence at the back of the garden. Tommy followed him, and soon they were running quickly through the Victor's Village. "Let's go! We have to hurry if we want to get to the reaping on time!"

**~Aegle Meliades~**

There seemed to be a bubble in the middle of the section for sixteen-year-old girls. If one bothered to pay closer attention, they would notice that there was a one-person radius around a strange girl.

She had swirled face paint and a strangely flowing blue dress. Her name was Aegle Meliades, and she didn't speak to anyone.

Aegle calmly watched as the Mayor of District 7 stepped up to the stage. The elderly woman smiled weakly and began to read the Treaty of Treason. When she was done, the district Escort stepped up onto the stage.

Bink Hum was an older man with a ridiculous afro and even more ridiculous tattoos. His tattoos had been cleverly done so he looked as if he was a skeleton. All in all, with the afro, he looked very eccentric. But clearly, nothing new for the Capitol.

He grinned at the crowd and shouted, "Who's ready for the Hunger Games!" No one responded. Bink didn't appear to be too upset by that, he simply started to hum and reached one long, skeletal hand into the bowl for females. After fishing around for a bit, he pulled out a slip of paper.

"Our first female tribute is… Naomi Gershwin!" A girl standing a few paces away from Aegle started to cry, and slowly made her way up to the stage. Before she could get there, a voice rang out.

"I volunteer!"

Bink practically wet himself with happiness. "A volunteer! We have a volunteer!" he clutched his heart as if he was going to keel over any minute. "Young lady, what is your name?" he asked, holding the microphone in front of the brunette.

"Ash. Ash Boxelder."

"Let's hear it for Ash!" roared Bink. Only Naomi clapped.

"Next tribute!" Bink resumed his never-ending humming as he fished for another name. He made a funny face as he pulled out another piece of paper. "Aegle Meliades!"

Normally when someone was reaped in D7, there were tears. Aegle's only reaction was a brief, tiny smile. She practically floated onto the stage, and placed herself right next to Ash. Bink cleared his throat hesitantly.

"Our first boy is… Balsa Durian!"

Cries seemed to sprout up from everywhere. A woman was crying in the section for people not in the reaping and her husband, two young men, and a little boy were crying with her. Two girls in the reaping were also crying as well as the dark-haired boy made his way to the stage. He took a spot next to Aegle, not speaking to anyone or even acknowledging their presence.

Bink grinned. "I love drama!" Aegle was sure that many people in the district would love to bash his strangely tattooed head into a wall repeatedly, but she wasn't about to say that out loud. Bink pulled one last slip of paper out of the bowl and grinned.

"Our last tribute is… Carter Mason!" he roared. The people of District 7 seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief as they were spared another year – all except the brunette boy who made his way up to the platform.

Bink waved cheerfully to the people who were escaping the square as fast as they good. "Our tributes folks! And may the odds be ever in their – and your! – favor!"

**XX**

Aegle's part sucks, doesn't it? I just have major writers block… Please review and send me cookies! I will be very happy and then I will (hopefully) write your next reaping faster! (what? This isn't bribery! What are you talking about! :3)


	9. District 8: Reaping

District 8! Just four more to go! :D Sorry for the epic delay, once again *sweatdrop* I don't blame you guys if you send assassins after me. However, you should keep in mind that if you do, in fact, send assassins after me, I will be unable to update. So now, you can do what you will. Please review though :) and send me cookies. Because they make me happy and make me wanna update more :)

**Disclaimer: **Insert disclaimer here.

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 8: Reaping**

**~Fabian Rune~**

Seventeen-year-old Fabian Rune tossed a knife high into the air. It flipped over itself before gravity pulled it back down. Without even blinking, Fabian grabbed it out of the air and threw it with all his might. _Bull's-eye_.

Cheers sounded everywhere. Fabian reached into his belt and pulled up another knife. The knife was long and delicate, with engraved filigree along the edges. Fabian spun the knife on his fingers, before turning to his captive audience.

"This is the last part of our act today!" he called, a huge grin on his face. "I'm now going to throw this knife, right there!" Fabian pointed to the other side of the makeshift 'arena' of sorts – a side ally really. The crowd gasped as they saw what he pointed at – or rather, who he pointed at. At the other side of the ally was a girl standing with an apple on her head. "I am going to knock that apple right off of Eliza's head!"

Everyone in the crowd recognized the girl – Eliza Way was the daughter of a relatively wealthy man in District 8. Her father owned and financed the coat factory, so she didn't need to do any work. She was currently – to the outrage of her family – in a relationship with Fabian Rune, the very person who was about to impale her head with a knife.

Well, theoretically there wouldn't be any impaling. As long as things went according to plan, that is.

Fabian and Eliza had been putting this show on for a few months. After Mr. Rune died, the family needed another source of income. Fabian kept asking his mother to let him get a job, but Mrs. Rune adamantly refused on the account that he needed to finish his education. However, that didn't stop Fabian from taking any small part-time job that popped up. But it wasn't enough to generate a decent amount of money for the family.

That was when Fabian had the genius idea to start a knife act with his girlfriend. He basically started it on a whim – he hadn't found a new job for about two weeks and he was getting a bit impatient. So street performing it was! The whole thing was blatantly illegal and most of the people in the district knew about it. But either the Peacekeepers were idiotic fools who couldn't see past their noses or they just didn't care, because Fabian hadn't been caught – yet. But it didn't matter, because the money was good and the entertainment was great.

The knife knocked the apple off of Eliza's head cleanly, and the crowd burst into applause yet again. Money rained from their hands and Fabian grinned.

"That's the last performance for the year, folks! Now hurry up and get to the square before the Mayor has our heads!"

**~Robyn Kramer~**

Robyn followed the flow of people into the square and silently took her place with the other twelve-year-olds. She was early, she knew that very well. But she remembered the reaping early, so she thought she should at least show up – before she forgot again. She had been at the show that the street performer had been putting on – something to do with knives? – when she had remembered where she needed to go. So she headed to the reaping along with a huge crowd of people.

"Robyn!"

Robyn turned around to see a dark-haired man with her eyes running towards her. "Daddy?"

"Sorry I didn't catch you at home, honey!" Valintino Kramer ran up to his littlest daughter and hugged her. "I got the day off for the reaping."

Robyn smiled and hugged her father. "Where are Mommy and Tessa?"

"Over there, see?" Robyn followed her father's outstretched finger to spot her mother, Ebony, talking to Tessa in the seventeen-year-old girls section.

Robyn hugged her father again, and he left to join his wife. Standing alone in the twelve-year-old section, Robyn felt lonely. She looked over to the thirteen-year-old girls section and could barely make out the mocha skin of her only friend, Irene. Her view was blocked off by a couple of girls.

"Well, well… look who we got here!"

"Is little Robyn all alone?"

The girls were of average height for twelve-year-olds, but they completely dwarfed Robyn.

"Oh, wait! She probably doesn't _remember_!"

Robyn frowned. She had fallen off of a tree when she was little and she couldn't remember things very clearly because of it. Robyn did remember something from school. Bullying wasn't nice. And these girls were bullying her. So they were not nice.

"Stop it."

"Poor Robyn!"

"Doesn't have any friends!"

"Well, duh! Who wants to hang out with someone who always forgets their name?"

"I do have friends… Irene is my friend!"

"That's what you think!"

"She doesn't speak to you anymore, because she can't stand to be with Little Miss Forgetful!"

The girls laughed maliciously and pulled themselves up so they towered over Robyn even more. Robyn seemed to shrink back into herself. "Everything's so big. It's like you're mocking me…" she whispered.

The girls left, leaving Robyn alone to her misery. Fifteen minutes later, she could barely remember what had happened.

**~Holly Caverly~**

A spider fell off of the ceiling. It wasn't a particularly gross spider. Nor a particularly large spider. In fact, it was the most average spider ever, smaller in size that a dime, colored black, and (if one looked closely, although why one would do this is still a question) covered with tiny little hairs. But for someone terrified of spiders – and insects in general – this completely average spider was (for lack of better word) terrifying. Fourteen-year-old Holly Caverly was one of the aforementioned people in the 'terrified of spiders' category. Upon seeing the little monster, she screamed bloody murder.

The door to her room slammed open and her mother ran in. "Holly! What's wrong?"

Holly stood frozen in front of her mirror, watching the spider amble down the shiny surface. She remained in that position until her mother picked up the spider and unceremoniously tossed it out of the window.

Sienna Caverly gave her daughter a reproachful look. "Now, dear. It was just a spider. There's no need to go and give me a heart attack for that!"

Holly shuddered and seemed to mentally shake herself. "Mum, you _know_ I'm terrified of spiders!"

"Terrified is one thing, dear, but this is a bit ridiculous!"

Holly sighed, running her fingers through her curly brown hair. "I know it's unnatural, Mum. That's why I think you know why I'm this scared!"

Sienna's face was suddenly devoid of emotion. "Please, Holly. Don't tell me you're going there again!"

"How did he die, Mum? Why can't you just tell me that?"

Sienna's eyes filled with tears. "You know I can't!"

"Why not?" shrieked Holly, her fists clenched. "Don't I have the right to know?"

"I can't, okay?" whispered Sienna. She pulled herself together and started to walk out of the door. "Get ready for the reaping, dear. It's almost time."

XX

Holly and her brother, Taylor, walked into the District square a few steps ahead of their parents and little sister. They could hear little Velvet loudly asking why everyone looked so sad. The girl was eight, but she was still blissfully unaware of the horrors of the Hunger Games.

Holly left Taylor in the section for seventeen-year-old boys and slowly started to make her way to the girls section. She ran into a skinny boy with rimless glasses on the way there, nearly knocking him over.

"Oh! Sorry!" she gasped, helping him up. "Are you okay?"

The boy smiled, "I'm fine!" He brushed himself off and rejoined the giant group of kids he was walking with. _Oh… an orphan…_

A person obnoxiously clearing their throat caught Holly's attention. Looking up at the podium, Holly saw the Mayor glaring at the people still dallying to get into their spots for the reaping.

Time for the reaping.

**~Talatan Acetate~**

Talatan Acetate stood with the other kids from the orphanage waiting for the reaping to start. The kids did their best to stay together until the very moment that the reaping began. The owner of the orphanage had already taken the younger and older children who chose to remain with the orphanage to the roped off section for people not actively participating in the reaping.

Talatan could see little Coir standing off to the side with a worried expression. He tried to shoot the little girl a reassuring smile but it came off as more of a grimace than anything. Thankfully, Coir didn't notice the pain behind Tan's expression – she just smiled happily back.

"Hey! How's this," started Skein Muslin, a fifteen-year-old boy from the orphanage, "Since it's Aida's last reaping, we can have a victory feast!" He prized everyone with a charming grin. "I'll cook!"

Aida rolled her slate grey eyes at Skein and sighed. "We can't throw another feast, silly! Last time, it took us months to get enough food again."

Cord Felting, a boy about the same age as Tan, spoke up. "Aida, it's a special occasion! We can afford to spoil ourselves!" He smiled gently at the older girl. "We can earn it back quickly, Coir is older now so she can help too."

The blonde girl standing with Aida rolled her eyes. "Coir doesn't need to do any work. I can bring in enough income myself."

The last boy of the group, Weft Loden, grinned. "Of that we have no doubt, Kat!"

The Mayor began to get increasingly annoying with his throat-clearing, so the orphans parted ways. Talatan and Cord made their way towards their section and suffered through the atrocity that the Mayor liked to call 'a speech'.

Soon, the annoying district Escort took the Mayor's spot. Actually, considering the escorts the other districts had, District Eight's escort was (for lack of a more accurate word) normal. Relatively.

Sparrow Niche was an abnormally tall, willowy woman in her late twenties. Her shoulder-length black hair was unnaturally shiny, and her hair looked like that of one of the old Egyptian Pharos.

Sparrow smiled and said in a surprisingly non-preppy voice, "We're going to start with the boys now…" She reached into the bowl and pulled out a slip. "Damien Way!"

"No!" a shriek came from the girls section as a boy started to walk up to the stage. Another boy quickly pushed him out of the way. "I volunteer! I'm Fabian Rune! I volunteer!"

The crowd's reaction was greater than Sparrow's. Apparently the woman wasn't much for pomp and circumstance. Fabian slowly walked up to the stage.

"Isn't that the street performer guy?" whispered Cord. "His knife-throwing stuff is pretty sick."

Talatan nodded, not really paying attention to the boy. Sparrow spoke again. "The next boy is… Batik Argyle!"

A strangled gasp came from the parent's section as a small twelve-year-old boy stepped up to the podium. Talatan recognized the kid, he was an only child and his parents relied on him immensely for his work at the factory. Talatan sighed. He knew what he needed to do. Batik would be missed – he would not be missed. The answer was clear, and what he had to do was written out in front of him. He just had to do it.

"I volunteer for Batik."

Talatan calmly walked up to the podium while Cord stared, his mouth flapping like a fish. Aida's eyes widened in shock at the sight of tiny Talatan making his way up the stairs and a strangled cry came from Kat's mouth.

"The first girl is… Holly Caverly!"

A girl with light brown hair walked up onto the stage. It was the girl he had just bumped into. She gave him a hesitant smile and he smiled back. Skein was looking at Talatan with a mixture of anger, sadness, and pity. _I think I ruined his dinner plans…_

"And the last tribute for District Eight is… Robyn Kramer!"

A tiny slip of a girl was pushed out of the twelve-year-old section. She looked dazed as she made her way onto the stage to stand next to Tan. Her eyes were a strange violet-blue and she gave Tan a cheerful grin. Talatan gave her a befuddled look.

Sparrow smiled at the people of District Eight. "And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

**XX**

Hurray! :) We're almost there, folks!


	10. District 9: Reaping

**Disclaimer: **Insert disclaimer here.

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 9: Reaping**

**~Sheldon Reeve~**

"Sheldon! Get up!"

Thirteen-year-old Sheldon Reeve got up with a groan. He rubbed his eyes and (literally) rolled out of bed. He was combing his fingers though his pin straight hair and looking for a hair tie when the door to his room was unceremoniously knocked off of its hinges.

Sheldon groaned. _Like clockwork, first thing in the morning._

A giant ball of eight-year-old-girl tacked Sheldon back into his bed. "Indy!" groaned Sheldon, trying to extract himself from his little sister's choke hold. "Lemme go!"

"No!" Indy buried her head into her brother's shoulder. "Today is reaping day, but you won't get reaped if you don't get up!"

Sheldon rolled his eyes at his little sister's logic. "Indy, if you don't let go of me it won't make a difference. _I can't breathe!_"

Indy jumped up like she was on fire. "Sorry!" she shrieked. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!"

The door slammed open again and Sheldon's father walked into the room, adjusting his tie. "I thought I heard a commotion up here!" said Oliver Reeve, grinning at his children. "Stop your messing around and get ready. We can't be late."

"I still have time…"

"Rina said she would be here in ten minutes."

Sheldon stared at his dad. _Crap! I forgot!_

XX

"Happy Birthday Rina," said Sheldon. "And what a happy day it is!"

Rina frowned and playfully smacked her best friend on the arm. "It's not my fault my birthday is today!"

"I will blame you as much as I wish!"

"That's not fair, Sheldon!" Rina sighed, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "You know I can't control when my birthday is! And it's not something I can change either! You can't blame me for something like that. My mom didn't _plan_ for me to be born on reaping day and I…" Rina trailed off to find Sheldon staring into the distance. "Are you even listening to me?"

Sheldon snapped back to attention. "I swear I didn't do it!" Rina raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm sorry?" he ventured cautiously.

Rina rolled her eyes. "Remind me why I hang out with you again?"

"Oh! That's simple!" Sheldon wiggled his eyebrows at Rina. "That's because of my wonderful personality and smashing good looks!"

Rina rolled her eyes again as the two friends continued on their way to the square. Needless to say, the day was going to end badly for the two.

**~Maisie Reese~ **

"What's she doing?"

"I dunno. She looks totally out of it."

"She's daydreaming again, isn't she?"

"Get your head outa the clouds, Maisie!"

Maisie Reese was daydreaming once again. Her dream (of sorts) was actually quite nice this time. She had been sitting with her mother and father on a swing. Maisie didn't question how strange it was that the Mayor had let the Reese family have a swing in the District. She didn't question why her mother and father were still alive and perfectly healthy. She simply accepted.

Sometimes, staying in her daydreams was the only way Maisie could cope.

A gentle hand on her shoulder pulled Maisie out of her musings. She looked up into the dark blue eyes of her older brother, Silas. _Why is he looking at me funny?_ "Maisie? Maisie?"

Oh. It seemed as though he had been trying to get her attention for a while.

"Yes?" she whispered softly.

Silas brushed Maisie's blonde hair out of her eyes. "I said I have to go now, hmm?"

"Why?"

"The reaping is going to start in a few minutes. The Mayor told us to get into our spots. See?" He pointed to the section for the spectators – Maisie's Uncle Cade and her little sister Lottie were standing there.

"Does Lottie look a bit sick to you?" whispered Maisie, her eyes widening as she began to panic.

Silas shook his head adamantly. "She's not sick, hmm. She's just worried about her big sister."

Maisie's eyes were wide as she looked to her brother for reassurance. "So it's not coming back?"

"The sickness won't come back to her, okay?"

"But what about the seizures?"

"They are not going to come back."

"Are you sure?" asked Maisie.

Silas kissed Maisie on the forehead and began to walk away. "I promise, she's…"

The rest of his words were drowned out by the loud shout from the Mayor. "It's time… for the 30th Quarter Quell!"

**~Xena Yumiko~**

Xena Yumiko cursed her horrible luck. She had been hoping she'd get lucky again this year. After all, it's only natural. Fourteen-year-olds didn't get reaped very much. But then again, Xena had always had rotten luck.

Needless to say, the very first name that came out of the escort's mouth was hers.

As she made her way slowly up the steps, she pondered. She pondered about her skills, and how she could use them in the arena. Realistically speaking, against the careers of 1, 2, and 4, she stood no chance.

But then again, hadn't Adina defied the odds?

Adina Yumiko. Xena's cousin. The daughter of her father's brother. Adina had been incredibly resourceful. She had learned how to hunt with a bow and arrow and how to throw knives. She had even taught her little cousin how to make a bow in order to shoot the little rodents that always wandered around the District.

But in the end, all of Adina's skills had been for nothing. She ended up dieing anyway. _Just like I will. _

Xena shook her head vehemently. _Being a defeatist won't help me here. I just have to not make her mistakes._

Xena stood on the platform as the escort called the next tribute's name. "Maisie Reese!" A tiny blonde girl took her place next to Xena.

_I can't trust anyone. Not even the most trustworthy person here._

Adina had made it to the top three in the Games. But when push came to shove, she lost. She made an alliance with a boy from District 7 who promptly stabbed her in the back at the first available opportunity. He drowned her.

_I have to avoid water._

"Our first male tribute is… Sheldon Reeve!"

A dark-haired boy took his place on the other side of Maisie. A thirteen-year-old. It was an unlucky year for the young ones.

_I can't let my guard down. Ever. _

"Our last tribute is… Felan Hirdler!" A boy with chin length black hair took his spot next to Bartholemew. "And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"

**~Felan Hirdler~**

"I'm sorry I didn't volunteer for you, man."

Felan shrugged unfeelingly. "It doesn't matter now."

"You don't have to be so depressed about it."

Fourteen-year-old Felan Hirdler fixed his friend with a glare. "I'm going to die, Owen."

Owen gulped, his blue eyes filled with guilt. "You don't know that for sure."

Felan glared again.

Owen sighed. "Look, man. I thought this would be a good way for you to get revenge for what happened to Austin."

"I don't want revenge, I want him back. Alive. With me. Alive."

"I just want you to start talking again."

Felan sighed. "And this is the best way?"

"If I volunteered and didn't make it, you'll just get worse."

Felan frowned. "Let's face it. I'm not going to change. It's no wonder no one volunteered for me. No one likes me."

Owen got up from his chair and sighed. "Kira's coming over here, man. She wants to talk to you." And then Owen left.

A few minutes later, a blonde girl came hurling into the room. She threw herself in Felan's arms and sobbed.

Felan sat immobile; he was completely dumbfounded. "Kira?" he ventured cautiously.

"I hate you, you know?" shrieked the girl, her green eyes pulling him to pieces. "Ever since Austin left, you've let yourself go… and now you've gone and gotten yourself reaped…"

"I…" Felan was at loss for words. "I didn't realize you cared so much…"

Kira scowled. "How could I not care, dummy?" She pulled herself away and composed herself a bit, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "Promise me that you'll come back."

"I…"

"Ugh!" Kira sighed, and hugged Felan close to her. She pulled him in and gave him a little kiss on his lips. The boy just stared at her, shell shocked.

"Promise me you'll come back."

Felan just nodded. He touched his lips where Kira had kissed him for the first time. _I have to come back home. There is no other option. _

**XX**

Insert final Author's Note here.


	11. District 10: Reaping

Alrighties, only two more districts (besides this one!) to go! You wanna know how I'm deciding who dies? Well, I'll let you know soon! :D

After the reapings, we'll have monster chapters of train rides, chariot rides, training room fun, training scores, and interviews! I'm going to do one POV from each district for the first four, and there will be four chapters of interviews so all the tributes get their two cents (more like half a cent, but ah well).

I hope you guys stay patient with me (P.S., those of you who have been patient so far, you're awesome!). My goal is to get all this stuff done in the next month so I can start… THE HUNGER GAMES! *insert dramatic music here*

**Disclaimer: **Insert disclaimer here.

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 10: Reaping**

**~Fallon Denway~**

Fallon Denway woke up when she felt a toddler-sized package hurl into her. Fallon groaned and tried to roll over without opening her eyes.

When the aforementioned toddler-sized package started jumping up and down, Fallon decided that it might not just be a toddler-sized package, but an actual toddler. When a tiny hand tried to pull her eyelids open, she concluded that the toddler-sized package was merely a toddler.

"Delphi," she groaned. "My eyes won't open that way." The little girl had been trying to pull Fallon's eyelids straight up.

"Wake up Fal!" sang Delphi, Fallon's four-year-old sister. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Delphi's chanting was coupled with more jumping. Fallon groaned.

"Delphi, that's my lung."

"What's that mean?"

"That means that if you keep jumping on your big sister there, she won't be able to breathe."

Delphi's dark green eyes – so similar to her older sister's eyes – widened in horror. She scrambled to the floor. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" she chanted, this time jumping on the ground.

Fallon smiled slightly as she pulled herself out of the bed. "Don't worry about it." Delphi sighed a giant sigh of relief just as the door slammed open.

"I'm not going to the reaping, I don't care what you say!" A black haired blob ran into the room and dived under Fallon's bed. Fallon heaved another giant groan.

"Ryder, are we going to do this again?" Fallon spoke to the bed.

A muffled voice came from under the covers. "I told Dad and Mathias the same thing. I'm not going to the reaping."

Fallon sighed loudly. "Mathias!" she called, "I found our little runaway!"

A tall man with brown hair and green eyes appeared in the doorway. "Shh!" he whispered, making a 'where is she?' gesture. Fallon pointed under the bed as Delphi tried to smother her giggles.

Mathias – Fallon's 21-year-old brother – grinned as he dived under the bed and pulled Ryder out. "Gotcha, little trouble maker!" he crowed in victory. "Now, lets get you all suited up!"

Fallon smiled as her brother dragged Ryder out of her room. Picking her way across the room, Fallon pulled her nicest working clothes out of the closet. She donned a pair of black riding pants and an off-white blouse. She buckled her brown belt around her middle and attached her riding crop to the side. She pulled out her riding goggles and put them around her neck before grabbing her tattered bag and leaving her room. Odds were, she wasn't going to get reaped anyway. And she had to take the horses out today, so there was no point in wearing fancy reaping clothes when she was just going to go to work – like every day.

**~Lili van Buren~**

Fifteen-year-old Lili van Buren sat on a bale of hay, absently scratching at a scab on her right knee. The scab was located on that awkward part of the leg where it hurts like hell because it pulls the skin. Lili was sick and tired of the annoying hurt-y feeling, so she resorted to the ages old technique to make things better – when in doubt, pull the scab off. Not that it really was a technique. Saying it was a technique made it sound more reasonable.

The hot sun beat down on Lili's back as she watched the sheep. Tipping back her hat to look at the height of the sun, Lili cursed. She was going to be late for the reaping.

Lili jumped up onto the back of her horse and whistled. Within a few seconds, a shaggy sheepdog was at her feet, panting. Lili made her way back to the barn quickly. That is, as quickly as possible while herding a bunch of stubborn sheep reluctant to give up their fun outing time.

When she got to the barn, Lili quickly cleaned up all of her stuff and proceeded to run out of the place. As she made her way out of the door, she tripped over the stairs and fell on her knees. _Oh dear. More scabs._

A hand suddenly appeared in front of Lili's face making, her jump. She scrambled up to her feet, ignoring the offered hand. She heard a sigh. "Sorry, Lili."

Lili looked up to see the owner of the barn standing in front of her with a sheepish look on his face. Lili stared at the ground, using the toe of her boot to trace curly designs in the dirt.

"Lili, were you the one who…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Lili took off running. She didn't want to talk to the barn owner about forgetting to gather the eggs yesterday. He would yell at her. They had lost money yesterday, and it was all Lili's fault. She knew that, but she didn't want to confront her boss. She didn't want to be yelled at.

Lili kept running all the way towards the district square. She tripped a few times, but she just picked herself up and kept running. She knew her boss wouldn't follow her – he never did – but she had to get as far away as possible. And she had to get to the reaping.

**~Dewlap Bovine~**

Thirteen-year-old Dewlap Bovine sat against a tree with his two best friends, Reata and Sougan. Reata was absently petting the sheepdog in her lap as she stared at the fields while Sougan chewed on a blade of grass with his hat tipped over his head to shield his eyes from the sun. Reata heaved a giant sigh.

"We should get back to the square. The reaping will start any minute."

Sougan pushed his hat back into place and groaned. "I'm blinded now… can I just stay here?"

Dewlap grinned as he watched his friends. He picked a blade of grass from near his feet and pinched it between his thumbs. "Check this out, guys!" Pulling the blade of grass taunt, Dewlap blew air between his fingers making a high-pitched whistle sound.

Sougan pulled up another blade of grass and made a whistle identical to his friends. Reata followed, and the air was filled with a medley of sounds.

"Dewlap Bovine! Get your lazy butt up here and go to the reaping already!" The music was shattered by an angry female voice. "Don't you dare be late, boy! You'll get us all in trouble for ditching if you do!"

"I guess our decision was made for us, Reata!" said Dewlap, pulling himself up. He turned to the figure with light brown hair that was angrily glaring at him. "Sorry, mum. We're going right now, see?"

Watusi Bovine rolled her eyes. "Of course I can see that. Now, hurry up! I'll be along with your father and Leppy in a few moments."

Dewlap nodded as he brushed bits of grass off of his riding pants. It was time for the reaping.

XX

Dewlap stood with Sougan in the boys section as the Mayor started talking. He gave his entire speech about the dark days and such before letting the escort for the district come up.

Drake Hawk was an imposing man who was relatively normal for Capitol standards. He had strange golden eyes that looked like hawk eyes and tattoos of swords all over his arms.

Drake wasn't one for a lot of pizzazz so he reached into the bowl and quickly pulled out two slips of paper. "The female tributes for District 10 are Fallon Denway and Lili van Buren," he said in a bored voice.

Two girls walked up to the stage, each very different. Fallon was very tall and had black hair while Lili looked very young, with blonde hair tied up with a ribbon. The two girls shyly looked at each other and gave the crowd hesitant smiles.

Drake reached into the bowl and pulled out two more slips of paper. "The male tributes this year are Dewlap Bovine and Jacob Dean."

**~Henry Breth~**

In the section for seventeen-year-old boys, the world had stopped for a certain Henry Breth. He simply stared at the stage as he watched his friend get reaped for the Hunger Games. Fallon. What was he going to do?

Henry sighed, running his hands through his black hair as he tried to meet Fallon's eyes. _I have to volunteer. I have to keep her safe. It's the only possible option. I lo…_

Almost against his will, his arm went up and he could hear his voice saying, "I volunteer for Jacob Dean." Why Jacob? Henry didn't really know. He knew Jacob more than he knew the other boy, and couldn't remember the other kid's name anyway.

He walked up to the stage and took his place next to Fallon.

"And may the odds be ever in your favor," said Drake sarcastically.

The peacekeepers ushered everyone off the stage and Henry fell into step next to Fallon. She turned to him and frowned. "What did you do?" she hissed. "We both can't make it out of here alive!"

"I wanted to…"

Fallon shook her head, her eyes started to tear up. "I don't care what you wanted, or mean to do, Henry! You made it impossible for a happy ending to these games!" She heaved a giant sigh. "At least if I was the only one in these games, I could have made it out alive. But with you here too, I don't want to."

"I wanted to protect you."

Fallon smiled slightly. "Henry, that's really sweet and all, but I don't need you to protect me. And I don't want you to protect me if it means you will die."

Fallon walked away from Henry. _Why, oh why, do I always screw things up?_ Henry sighed as he continued to walk. _Now she probably won't even speak to me. And I did this all for her… _

**XX**

Done! :D Leave some cookies please! Or ninjas, whatever you prefer as long as it's something, and in review form ;)


	12. District 11: Reaping

Next district! One more to go! Please review and vote on the popularity poll on my page :DD

**Disclaimer: **Insert disclaimer here.

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 11: Reaping**

**~Shmimi Belladonna~**

"Swear to me you won't do it."

Sixteen-year-old Shmimi Belladonna turned away from the sink where she was washing dishes to face her father and heaved a giant sigh. "Dad, you know I won't do that."

Naveen Belladonna fixed his eldest daughter with a stern glare. "I forbid you to volunteer for her."

"That won't stop me."

Naveen sighed, and cursed softly. He clenched his hand that was on the kitchen table, making a fist. "Why do you want to do that, Shmimi? Why would you? After all she's put us through, why would you still volunteer?"

"Because no matter what, she's still my sister."

"She gave up the right to that title when she lost her mind."

"She didn't loose her mind and you know that well enough." Shmimi fixed her father with a piercing glare. "She was simply a victim of the circumstances." Tossing her curly hair over her shoulder, Shmimi faced the sink again. She turned off the water and reached into the sudsy pool. Pulling out a glass, she began to dry it.

"Victim of the circumstances, my ass!" swore Naveen. "You both grew up in the same circumstances, but you never did anything that despicable! Stop making excuses for her! What she did was unforgivable."

"You think I don't know that?" Shmimi asked softly, setting down the dishrag in her hands. She walked over to her father and placed her hands on his shoulder. She hugged him gently, pulling his head-full of black hair to rest against her shoulder. "But this isn't the way to punish her. If she gets reaped, I will volunteer. No matter what, I'm her big sister and I need to look after her. This is partially my fault anyway."

Naveen raised his eyes to meet his daughter's dark brown ones. "_If _she gets reaped."

**~Bartholemew Ry~**

Twelve-year-old Bartholemew Ry stared at the fruit he held in his hands. It was an orange, perfectly round, with a slight bump on the side from where it had fallen onto the ground. Mew ran his fingers over the bumpy peel and furtively looked around himself. After making sure there was no one in his close proximity at the orchids, he dug his fingers into the edge and was about to pull the rind off when…

"What are you doing?" hissed a voice. Mew jumped a good ten feet in the air.

"Al? You scared me!" Mew spun around to face his best friend. "What was that for?" he gasped, brushing his blonde hair out of his eyes.

"There's a Peacekeeper behind that tree, five paces to your left."

Mew's eyes widened as he looked to the side, catching a glimpse of the blinding white uniform. _ Three more seconds and I would have been a goner._

"Be more careful, man!" chastised Al. "You don't wanna end up like Simone, do you?" Al threw Mew a worried look. Although Alphonse was two years Mew's senior, the two boys were very close friends. Some people even thought they were brothers, with their matching blonde hair and blue eyes.

Mew grimaced slightly. "Please, I don't wanna talk about her."

Al shook his head in sorrow and sighed. "So be it, man!" He looked around carefully. "The Peacekeeper is gone now. Do with that knowledge what you will. Just keep me out of it!"

Al threw Mew a wave over his shoulder as he walked away to one of the trees still weighed down with fruit. Bartholemew glanced around himself once again and proceeded to dig his fingers back into the fruit.

The rinds came off of the orange quickly and easily. Soon, Mew was breaking the fruit into fragments. He hid partially behind his tree and the basket full of fruit, holding up one piece of the orange to examine it.

Popping the piece in his mouth, Mew sighed with pleasure. The orange was delicious, not even comparable to the 'cast off's' that the people of District 11 were permitted to eat at times. He ate the rest of the fruit, carefully wiping his hands on the basket to make sure there was no juice left on them. He wiped his mouth, making sure that no traces of orange remained, and grabbed the oranges he picked. His hand ached slightly from the splinters he picked up from using the basket for a wash rag. _Note to self, baskets do not make good napkins. _

Bartholemew Ry proceeded to a new tree and continued to pick oranges, acting as though nothing had happened. A few minutes later, he dropped off his haul and proceeded to town square.

_That was for you, big sis. I finally know why you couldn't resist. _

**~Colby Ryans~**

"In order to make this reaping super special awesome, I'm going to reap the boys first!"

Colby Ryans groaned. _Just get this over with, please! I'm asking nicely!_ The new escort for District 11 didn't seem to realize that he was the new escort for _District 11_. The second most unenthusiastic District, second only to D12 itself. Poor Yu Gimoto had apparently missed that very important fact.

And to top it all off, the man looked ridiculous.

His black hair was spiked up so it stood roughly five feet higher than his actual head. Not only that, but the tips of his hair was colored a bright red. Other random pieces of his hair were colored an obnoxious yellow and styled to look like lightning bolts. All in all, he looked insane. Not to mention that he was wearing the tightest pair of leather pants seen in the entire world.

Colby wanted to bang his head repeatedly against a wall.

"Our first super special awesome tribute is… Colby Ryans!"

Colby groaned as he dragged himself up to the makeshift stage. _Volunteers? Anyone? Anyone? Going once? Twice? Seriously, this is the opportunity of your life people! _Clearly mind control wasn't working.

As he took his place on the platform, a commotion caught Colby's eye. Turning his head slightly so as to not appear obvious, Colby was able to make out two burly Peacekeepers wrestling with a young girl.

Turning his head a bit more, Colby got a good look at the girl's face. She appeared to be around fifteen years old, but upon closer inspection, her young face still had baby fat in it. She was thirteen. Her straight black hair looked odd with her unnaturally pale skin. Where had he seen this girl? She looked familiar but the skin…

The skin! The last time Colby Ryans had seen this girl, she was being dragged off by Peacekeepers. Her skin had been a light olive tone. With her washed out color, it was no wonder Colby didn't recognize the girl.

It was her, Shiki Belladonna, the girl who killed her mother.

**~Gardenia~**

"The next tribute will be… Bartholomew Ry!"

A pale boy with blonde hair and blue eyes took his place next to the seventeen-year-old on stage. Compared to Colby, Bartholomew was extremely short. Two Bartholomews would probably equal one Colby. It was amusing, actually.

"The first super special awesome girl going to the Hunger Games this year is… Gardenia!"

Gardenia froze. This couldn't be true. It was her first reaping. She only had one of those little slips in the lottery drawing of doom. So she couldn't be going to the Games. Clearly, this was all some bizarre dream.

Gardenia decided to just go along with it and get onto the platform. Brushing her light brown hair away from her face, she mounted the stairs and began the walk to her doom. But it wasn't really her doom because this wasn't really happening. Right. Right?

Standing next to the two boys, Gardenia faced Yu as he drew one last slip. "And the last tribute for the Hunger Games is… Shiki Belladonna!"

_Seriously? This must be a dream!_ Not only was Gardenia going to the Games, she was going to the Games with the District's one and only residential psychopath. The entire situation made Gardenia want to slam her head against the wall a few times, just so she could wake up.

Gardenia's confirmation that she was dreaming came when the shout of, "I volunteer!" arose from the crowd. _Who in their right minds would volunteer for this girl? Oh, right… Her sister!_

**XX**

Yeah, these ones are a bit short, but I wanted to give you guys something at least! Until about March 12th, my life is going to be absolutely insane, so bear with me and my slow updates, guys :) I have to take SATs on that day, and after that, I can breathe for a bit. But 'til then *shrugs* I hope I can keep updating regularly!


	13. District 12: Reaping

I am a horrible person. But, thankfully, all of the crap that threw my life into insanity is now gone, only to be replaced by even more crap (yay!). But SATs are done, musical is history, and DECA States are finally over, but now that that's all gone, they are replaced by AP Testing, college visits, DECA ICDC (which is in Florida! Yes! Disney time!), Junior Prom, Junior Prom Dress Shopping, and a whole different list of (enjoyable, but time consuming) crap that you don't really want to hear about. So I'll spare you and actually update. Wow. It's been a month. If any of you want to kill me, you're welcome to take your shots now. That reminds me…

The way I'm killing tributes is a combination of things really, how often you review, how much I like the character/how well I can write the character, and my mood. And, if all else fails, random lots. Because that's how I roll. Yup. Uh-huh. But keep in mind, if you review a lot, and participate, and stuff like that, your tribute will probably survive longer. _Probably._ No promises are being made. But yeah, it really depends on my mood, and when it seems "right". So honestly? I have no answer for you! This was a(n almost) complete waste of an authors note! Hurray! Now, on to the last reaping (finally)!

**Disclaimer: **Insert disclaimer here.

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**District 12: Reaping**

**~Evelyn Dune~**

"Evelyn, that has to be the most adorable dress I've seen! Where did you get it?" gushed Haley Olivers. Although the redheaded girl was very sweet, she was a bit dense at times. Evelyn had worn this dress for all of her Reapings, it was a hand-me-down from her sister Kara.

Evelyn grinned wryly and gestured to the vividly pink dress she wore. "Oh, this abomination? It actually belonged to Katniss Everdeen. My mum managed to get it for me though. You know how she is."

Haley had the presence of mind to look a bit sorry for her dense comment. The dark haired girl standing next to her grinned.

"Sarcasm is said to be the lowest form of wit."

"I only use sarcasm around you guys to bring myself down to your level, Lara!"

The girls giggled, finished getting ready. Haley pulled a worn black camisole over her black dress and buttoned the front shut while Lara tried to wrestle her feet into a pair of two-sizes-too-small Mary-Jane's. Evelyn tied the white sash that went with the dress around her waist and proceeded to open the door to walk downstairs.

As she stepped to go outside, she instead ran smack into a boy who looked like he could have been her brother. He actually was her close friend.

"Didja go blind in both eyes, Ev?" teased Neil Gibson good-naturally. "Or were you just looking for an excuse to get your hands all over me?"

Evelyn laughed and rolled her eyes, pushing the boy out of the way. At the bottom of the stairs, she met up with the rest of her family and her friends parents. Like normal, the Olivers' were dressed purely in black, while Lara's parents wore two times as many bright, gut-wrenching colors to make up for them. Mr. Gibson was dressed in a formal suit, and his three sons matched him. If Evelyn didn't know better, she would have expected someone to come out and snap a photograph of the occurrences, captioning it "A happy family on a normal day with no air of death sneaking up behind them". But Evelyn did know better.

Instead, she just crossed her fingers and begged some higher force to make sure none of her beloved would get reaped.

**~Seneca Mellark~**

Twelve-year-old Seneca Mellark looked at the town square in fear. She braced herself and moved her right foot forward. She froze in place, unable to move a muscle. Sighing loudly, she stepped back and turned to face her father.

"I can't do it," sighed Seneca, pushing strands of her hair out of her blue eyes. "I just can't!"

"You can do it and you will." Wayne Mellark stared down his daughter with his identical big blue eyes.

"Dad!" cried Seneca, throwing her arms around her father. "You know they'll rig the reaping! They always do!"

"Someone will volunteer for you," said Wayne confidently.

"No they won't!" cried Seneca, worriedly tugging at her blonde hair. "I know people volunteered for you every year, but kids aren't that brave anymore! Dad, they're going to reap me and none of the girls will volunteer!"

"You won't go to the Hunger Games."

"But what if I do?"

Wayne sighed and kneeled on the ground so he could look Seneca in the eye. "Do you know what Peeta's greatest fear was in the Games?"

Seneca nodded. "He was afraid of loosing himself."

"The worst fate for you out there isn't death," Wayne pulled his daughter close to his body and hugged her. "The worst fate for you is turning into a mindless machine for the Capitol; being punished for the actions of our forefathers. I am truly sorry that I am a Mellark. If it wasn't for me, you and your mother could live a peaceful life—"

Seneca cut him off. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be here, Dad. I don't blame you for being related to them."

Wayne smiled softly. "I've dreaded this day since the moment you were born. You're right, dear. Girls aren't as brave as they were before. The people of District 12 are perfectly content letting our family die out, it will give them some peace."

"So I'm going to the Games?"

Wayne nodded sadly, tears starting to leak from his eyes. "If not this year, than the next. The reason your mother is home 'sick' today is because she couldn't bear to see this happen to you…"

Seneca bit her lip and hugged her father. "I swear I won't forget myself."

"And watch your back. The people of the Capitol will be out to get you."

**~Will Darius~**

When the escort, a man with blonde hair and a giant cigar, Paul Iceburg, called the name of the first female tribute, a giant sigh of relief was heaved.

"Seneca Mellark!"

_One Mellark down, three to go. Not so sure how I feel about that, though._

The Everdeen-Mellark family was the symbol of everything that had ever gone wrong for District 12. The coal miners of the most hated district were perfectly content to live their lives in isolation and a hairy peace with the Capitol menace. A sacrifice of two kids a year didn't really seem very steep to the people of D12, and even the families of condemned tributes managed to pull themselves together and hold back the tears. It was for the greater good.

Stay out of trouble, stay alive.

But the Mellark's had been thwarting the attempts for normalcy for the last few centuries. After the drama surrounding the second rebellion, and the unfortunate survival of the two catalysts, the Capitol made it their goal to kill off the offspring of prominent rebellion leaders, cloak and dagger style.

Some of the lines were easy to eliminate. President Alma Coin hadn't really garnered much loyalty from her people after her less-than-savory last ditch attempts to win the Rebellion. Her children were killed quickly, and no one stopped them.

However, fans of Finnick, Johanna, Peeta, and Katniss would not let their idols die. Every generation, a new group of kids would volunteer to take the places of their children, and the line would live on.

Will was one of the select few who would volunteer for one of "the line", except for the unfortunate accident that the next in "the line" was female. That was a technicality that he couldn't overcome.

"Evelyn Dune!"

Will roused himself from his musings just as a tiny girl with black hair walked shakily onto the stage. She looked a bit upset, but then again, everyone did. Although the people of D12 accepted the Hunger Games, they did not like them.

Paul fished in the bowl of boys' names, preparing to draw the male tributes. Will sighed. _Looks like no one is going to volunteer for Mellark after all. _

**~Mark Vires~**

"Our first male tribute is… Will Darius!" A boy with brown hair walked up onto the stage and stood next to the Mellark girl. In the crowds, a boy dressed in black silently crossed off a mark in his head. _One down, one more to go._

"And the last tribute for the 30th Quarter Quell is… Mark Vires!"

_So much for that._

Even when he was reaped, Mark Vires didn't react. Not that anyone was really surprised. The boy was reclusive, and that was that. The theory among the fourteen-year-old boys was that when Mark was very little, he had been open. But when his mother passed away, he started dressing in black and stopped talking. He thought himself beneath people.

But the other boys were very wrong. Mark just didn't try to talk to anyone, but if someone made the effort towards him, he had no problem interacting with others. But no one tried to make an effort. They were too scared.

There wasn't much of a reaction when Mark got Reaped; just a barely audible sigh that came out of the mouth of everyone related to a boy of reaping age, a consensus of "better him than my son". It wasn't so much as they didn't like Mark, they just didn't want their children to die. Survival of the fittest.

Or, in this case, survival of the luckiest.

Mark took a spot on the platform next to a skinny girl from the seam, Dunes or something. She turned to him and smiled hesitantly.

Paul the very blonde escort turned to the crowd. "And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

"I'm Evelyn," she whispered as the peacekeepers escorted them away. Mark nodded. "Are you scared?"

"I suppose it is only natural that I would be scared."

Evelyn flushed a bit. "Yeah, sorry. Stupid question."

Mark fixed his blue eyes on her, gazing through his bangs. "There is no such thing as a stupid question."

Evelyn looked at him, her grey eyes thoughtful. "That's a very good point."

"Yes, it was." For a second, Evelyn thought she saw a slight smile flit across his face. But that was a ridiculous thought. Mark Vires smiling? Get real. Next thing she'd know, pigs would be flying or the Hunger Games would be over for good.

**XX**

Ta-dah! Finally! Lol *heaves a giant sigh* I found that my muse ran away for this one. So I had to chase it. A lot. Very far. It took me a while to catch it again, but it's still being moody. I did my best on this chapter, but I think it still sucks… So tell me what you think, I'm glad you didn't all disappear :)

Oh, and if any of you are in DECA and going to Nationals, tell me! We can meet, hang out, and talk about fun stuff :D

IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK! Now please send me cookies (or assassins) in the form of a review! ;)


	14. Train Rides

IMPORTANT! I know that a lot of you just skip around and read the parts that your tribute is in. However, I have to caution against that. I have a story going on with all of the tributes, and I hope you read about all of them :) I understand that some of you don't want to and I guess to each his own, but I really really really hope you read all of this :) Of course, you are welcome to just skip, but I still want reviews! ;)

So now we're up to the pre-game shenanigans :) Isn't that exciting? I think it is :) So you can probably count on your tribute being in almost every chapter from now 'til the games, with the exception of the interviews, which will be split up into four chapters. I want to give each tribute a fair share of time, because I'll have to kill a lot of them pretty fast, so I feel you should get to know them a bit more :)

As far as POVs, I'm not ever writing in first person, just third person POV centering around the tribute in question. I hope you guys don't mind, but I find the "I" POV to be a bit constricting; you have to observe things based on what the tribute sees, and I want you guys to see more :)

POLL ALERT! Since we have roughly six chapters from now 'til the Games, I'm going to post another poll, your favorite tributes out of two districts at a time. So vote wisely! :) And there will probably be a poll with the top two winners from each of those, so yeah :) Additionally, the top two winners of these polls will be granted bloodbath immunity (unless they were submitted as bloodbath tributes, in which case, that sucks!)The poll up right now is your favorite tributes out of Districts 1 and 2. You have three votes, so go, go, go! :)

**Disclaimer: **Insert disclaimer here.

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**Chapter 17: Train Rides**

**~District 1~Jay Fink~**

After the reaping, Jay had been pushed into a room where his mother cried over him. Diana was the only one who showed up. Not that Jay was surprised. He didn't expect his father to make an appearance anyway.

Now on the train, he sat on an extremely squishy cushion in between the other male tribute and the escort. Mikan Young was practically falling off of her chair in excitement, tittering nervously to the girls next to her. Both Asla and Vice wore matching expressions of barely concealed disgust.

The door slammed open and Mikan jumped out of her chair. "And here are your mentors for this year!" she trilled, pointing to the handsome young man and the sweet-looking old woman in the doorway. "Royce Demon and Jeniss Craken! They will be working together to make you guys the strongest of the strong! We're going to have another District 1 Victor this year!"

Vice gave Royce a predatory grin, and he smirked right back at her. "You're all expected to be Careers. Any objections?" he fixed each kid with a glare as if daring them to speak up. He smirked again, "Good. Time to get down to business."

Jeniss spoke up quietly. "We need to decide on a leader for the pack this year. Typically, the Career leader is from One, so we need to keep that tradition unchallenged. Whoever we elect as leader must be prepared to defend that position."

Lux Ury smirked. "I vote Vice."

"It's the smartest choice," said Jay. "And her name is the most well known." _And the most feared._

Asla nodded her acceptance. "Having the weight of three Victors behind her will keep her authority intact," said Asla. "Definitely the best choice."

Royce smirked. "It's good to see I have some smart kids this year. Most of the time, I end up with bloodthirsty mongrels. I expect a lot from you." He turned around and walked out of the compartment, followed by Jeniss and a simpering Mikan.

As soon as they left, Vice stood up. "Well, lets get to work. We can't just expect things to fall into place. It's time to make plans."

Jay let out a barely audible groan as Vice began to order them around. Mikan had ran out after the Mentors, and she quietly snuck back into the room in the middle of the 'planning'. She tapped Vice on her shoulder, pointing her off into another compartment. There were ten minutes of peace before the she-demon returned with a smug smile on her face. Asla walked out of the room after her.

A few moments later, Asla returned wearing a grin that matched Service's. Mikan tapped Jay on the shoulder. "Royce and Jeniss want to talk to you."

Jay nodded and walked up to the door. Opening it, he found himself in a luxurious compartment. In the middle was a comfy looking couch that Royce and Jeniss sat on.

"Close the door, please," said Jeniss. Jay nodded. He slid the door shut and walked into the room. He stopped a few feet away from the couch, looking at the Mentors questioningly.

"We have some good news for you, Jay Fink," said Jeniss with a smile.

Royce grinned, bearing pearly white teeth. "We have chosen you as our next Victor."

**~District 2~Milly Tary~ **

The door to the compartment slammed open and Verigo Ameres almost jumped out of his chair. Milly watched him take a few bracing breaths and then turned her attention to the Mentor.

"Milly."

"Auntie Katie."

Zane jumped up, shocked. "You two know each other?"

Milly Tary and Katie Black both fixed the Escort with a glare. "Of course we do! She's my adopted aunt/niece!" they replied in unison. Zane wilted a bit under their combined looks, but quickly perked up again.

"Well, these are your Mentors for this year, kids!" he said, gesturing to Katie and the man who walked in with her, Corin Nell, a brawny man in his 30s.

Janie and Kang looked at the two doubtfully. Katie didn't seem to be very nice, and Corin was more brawn than brain. Actually, it was doubtful that he had a brain at all.

"So, are you guys going to be Careers?" asked Katie.

"Of course!" stated Milly. "Why wouldn't we?"

Katie fixed Milly with a glare. "I didn't ask you, little freeloader!"

The muted chatter in the cabin stopped completely. Janie Yoo looked at Katie shell-shocked, while Kang and Verigo tried to discern Milly's feelings. Zane awkwardly cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. His eyes jumped back and forth between the shocked girl and the blonde mentor who seemed to be trying to kill her dark-haired niece with a look. Needless to say, the rest of the meeting didn't go to well.

XX

Katie pulled Milly aside at the end of the meeting. "Don't expect me to treat you different because of your parents!"

"I don't!" Milly shot back. "Or at least, I didn't until you started treating me like the crap on the bottom of your shoe! Who do you think you are?"

Katie lifted her chin and tossed her hair. "I am your _aunt_," she spat the word as if it were a curse, "and the _rightful_ owner of all the money you're mooching off of my little sister!"

"This is because of money?" asked Milly incredulously. "You're rich! Why do you care?"

Katie bent down so she looked Milly in the eyes. "I care because you're taking all of my sister's hard-earned money and giving it to the mongrels who beg on the streets! Emily worked for that cash; you have no right to simply give it away to bums!"

"They wouldn't be bums if they had a chance to get a better life!"

"They wouldn't need a better life if they weren't bums in the first place!" spat Katie. "If I let you die, your mother won't let me hear the end of it. Somehow, despite your horrid behavior, she still _loves_ you. But I don't have any qualms of putting you in Corin's hands, and _then_ letting you die. After all, it's not my fault then."

"Mom always spoke so highly of you. Despite all of the hints of the contrary, I thought that maybe, you really did deserve that praise." Milly spun on her heel and walked out of the room. She paused at the doorway, turning back to face Katie. "You better hope I die in the arena. Because when I make it out, my parents _will_ hear all about this." She flitted out the door and was gone.

**~District 3~Aura Pemberly~ **

Aura sat next to the little black hared girl on the train. The girl was holding her brother and sobbing but Aura wasn't really listening to her. She was trying to keep herself from sinking even deeper into the ridiculously fluffy cushion that she was sitting on. A door opened and Sid ran in.

"It's time for you beautiful ladies (and you other guys) to meet your beautiful Mentor!" sang Sid. "Meet… Zwalla Hering!"

A young woman stepped around Sid and time seemed to stop. She was beautiful, with caramel skin and dark curly hair. She smiled softly at Sid who was watching her with hearts in her eyes.

"I'm going to do anything to keep you guys alive," she smiled. "Ultimately, there can only be one winner and three of you definitely will die. It is doubtful that we will have a Victor this year; District 3 normally doesn't do very well. I will try to keep you alive, but keep in mind, I cannot save you. You must save yourself. If you are not careful, you _will_ die."

She surveyed all of the tributes, stopping on Veronica and Simon. Her eyes softened, and an undeterminable look passed over her eyes. Veronica started to sob more. Zwalla looked stricken, and she quickly walked out of the room with Sid behind her.

Simon wore a helpless look on his face as he tried to comfort Veronica. Lucas watched them with barely concealed disgust. _No help there._

"Hey," said Aura softly, sliding up so she was next to Veronica. "You wanna talk?"

Veronica looked up at Aura sadly, her eyes filled with tears. "I can't win. No matter what I do, things will be bad!"

Aura held out her arms, and Veronica fell into them. She stroked the younger girl's head soothingly while whispering consoling nonsense into her ear. Simon shot her a grateful look and she shrugged.

"It's going to be okay," whispered Aura, even though she knew it wouldn't be.

XX

Aura changed into a nightdress and slipped into a cabin with a bed. She planned to try to catch a couple z's before they reached the Capitol early the next morning. She had lit the lamps on the wall and started the laborious process of pulling all the extra pillows off of the bed when the door slid open.

"Thanks for today."

Aura turned to see Simon in the doorway. He wore a pair of worn slacks and a button down shirt, his long black hair was held back with a hair tie.

Aura shrugged. "You didn't seem to know what you were doing."

"Can I come in?"

Aura nodded. Simon stepped into the room, stopped, and sighed. "I don't know what to do, you know? No matter what, there is no way that things can turn out good for my sister and me. It's a loose-loose situation."

"I know," said Aura as she pulled her hair up into a bun.

"Then why did you comfort her?" asked Simon. "Wouldn't it just be best to let Veronica know the grim truth like Zwalla did?"

"She's too young to loose her innocence."

"She's going into the Hunger Games. Her innocence doesn't stand a chance." Simon sighed. "She's my little sister, and I want to protect her but… I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but I want to know why. Why did you tell her something that you don't even believe in?"

"How did you know I didn't mean it?"

Simon stepped closer to Aura so they were only a few inches apart. "It was written all over your face."

**~District 4~Zeph Raine~ **

"So how have things been for you?" asked the Mentor.

"Pretty good," replied Kaela. She then went on a tangent outlining the last two years of her life. The entire affair made Zeph want to puke.

"Hey, Tern?" Eighteen-year-old Killian Tern spun around to face Zeph. "Aren't you supposed to be mentoring _all_ of us?" he asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. Disgust was written all over his face as he looked at the boy who was barely older than him. _And he'll be my Mentor? Get real!_

Killian seemed to struggle with himself. He was probably deciding if punching Zeph in the face was worth it or not. After a few seconds, his face smoothed over and he turned to address all of the tributes.

"So as Miss Skye here said, I am going to be mentoring all of you this year. I know that only two of you volunteered, but I still expect you to be Careers. We're District 4, and we have a reputation to uphold in these Games." Killian turned to face Zeph. "Now, I know some of you have… _different_ reasons to be in these games, but if you do anything to endanger the lives of Miss Skye and myself, you will be sorry. Am I clear?" Killian's message was clear to Zeph. Revenge has no place in the Hunger Games. Too bad Zeph didn't intend to listen to him.

XX

"I think we have a good chance at winning this year."

Hue Storme looked at Oceana incredulously. "A good chance?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "District 4 is gonna have a winner this year, and that's a given."

"Yeah," agreed Zeph. "With the tributes we have this year, we're going all the way."

Oceana shook her head, her green eyes wide. "You guys are forgetting something important…" She pointed to the other side of the compartment where Kaela was intently talking Killian. She was gesturing wildly, a giant grin on her face as she laughed at something Killian said.

Zeph snorted. "What about her? She's totally gaa-gaa over him, and that's it."

Oceana rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Guys can't put two and two together, can they?" she muttered to herself.

"Hey!" interjected Hue. "I'm offended by that!" He offered Oceana a cheesy grin, making her roll her eyes again.

"What I mean is she's an Odair. The Capitol has been trying to get rid of the vestiges of the Second Rebellion for the longest time, and she has one of the well-known names. They're going to make her a target, and they're going to take us down with her!"

"What can they possibly do?" laughed Zeph, running a hand through his messy brown hair. "The worst they can do is kill her and that's to our advantage anyway. We can't win while she's alive. How will they take us down with her?"

Hue furrowed his eyebrows, thoughtful. "Maybe… they could try to turn the Capitol's opinion against us as a whole. If the President makes a few well-placed comments, everyone could stop sponsoring Kaela. It would only take a little push to pull sponsors away from all of District 4."

Oceana stood up abruptly. "We have to do something to make sure she doesn't drag us down," she said, and quickly walked out of the compartment.

"What do you think?"

Zeph looked at Hue, evaluating him. His skin was tanned from being outside so much that its color offset his blonde hair and his muscles were plainly visible. Even though he wore a genial smile now, Zeph had no doubt that Hue could be terrifying.

Zeph grinned. "I think we can figure out a plan to get us in the Capitol's favor, and get her completely out of the equation."

**~District 5~Tomas Franc~**

To Tomas Franc, Eurydice Visconti was the strangest person he'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. Currently, Tomas was sitting at a table heaped with piles of food in between Eurydice and Locke. The other girl, Katya, sat across from Locke. The Mentors, Cecilia Beuxbatton and James Finnick, were seated across from Tomas and Snake. At the head of the table, Monke D'Louf was cramming meat into his mouth as fast as possible. Tomas was originally under the impression that the people of the Capitol had impeccable manners. Clearly, he was wrong. Or at the very least, D'Louf was the exception.

But back to the topic of Eurydice's strange-ness. She had piled a stack of flat breads (pancakes, they were called?) piled on her plate so high that they looked like they were about to fall down. She then proceeded to cover half of the stack with all kinds of sweet junk, butter, powdered sugar, _real_ sugar, maple syrup, and ice cream. Tomas thought he was going to puke just looking at it.

Thankfully, he didn't need to voice the question he was dying to ask, Katya took care of that for him.

"Is that pile of crap on your plate actually _food_?"

Granted, Tomas would have probably phrased his version of that question in a more polite manner.

Eurydice fixed Katya with a slight glare. "I thought that I might as well indulge a bit, considering how I might die soon," she said softly, her tone of voice contrasting sharply with the look in her eye.

"Indulging is one thing, eating _that_ is another," said Katya, wrinkling her nose delicately. She used her silver fork to carefully stab another piece of lettuce in her salad and daintily place it in her mouth. She smirked at Eurydice as if to say 'see how sophisticated I am?'

_More like, 'see how stupid I am?'_ Although Eurydice's pancakes made Tomas shudder, he wasn't so daft as to pass up all of the wonderful food sitting in front of him. Who wouldn't eat good food if it was right in front of him/her?

Katya. That's who.

Cecilia cleared her throat, stopping the argument before it even started. "As James and I said before, we think it would be advantageous for you to split up into two groups of two each and build independent alliances off of that. Do you know who you want to be with?"

Almost in unison, Katya and Eurydice replied, "Not her!"

Cecilia glared at the two girls as if daring them to speak again. They gulped.

"Of course," said James, rolling his eyes at the childish display. "How about… Locke and Katya, you two team up, and Eurydice and Tomas, you two can team up. You'll be with people closer to your age then."

"What if I don't want to team up with Locke?"

"You'll do what we say," growled James. "If you want to win."

Katya rolled her eyes and glared at Locke. The blonde gulped and quickly looked away from her. Although Katya was beautiful, she was quite the she-devil. Tomas grinned. He definitely was _not_ jealous of Locke.

Eurydice leaned close to Tomas to whisper in his ear. He could smell the chocolate on her breath. "You'll stick with me, right?" she asked.

Tomas nodded. "Yeah. Promise you won't ditch me for better allies?"

Eurydice grinned slightly. "Totally. They won't be better allies if they don't let you into the alliance!"

Tomas smiled hesitantly. Eurydice seemed nice. She had volunteered for that blind girl when no one else did, so she must be alright. Tomas decided that he was going to trust her. If she did anything to betray that trust… well, things would turn nasty in the Hunger Games. But then again, that's what the Hunger Games were. Just plain nasty.

**~District 6~Renn Sorrell~ **

Renn did not like the way the older Mentor was looking at him. Like he was a prime slice of meat, waiting to be dissected. He decided that he didn't really like Marie Argon much. She gave him the willies.

Renn sat next to Kaylin on a comfy couch that wanted to eat him. He hadn't gotten up for food either; it required too much physical effort to get off of the man-eating couch but Chio Pinoc had gotten a feast delivered to the cabin and Renn had wanted to eat. Luckily, Kaylin had gotten him a plate of yummies when she had gotten up to get food.

And the word "yummies" did describe the food very well. All of it was (as its name hinted) very yummy.

Renn was content to sit eating in silence, but his plans were completely destroyed by the appearance of the Mentors. An older woman, Marie, followed by two young men, Sigmund Cerium and Gilderoy Henton. Renn remembered Gilderoy; he had won the Games last year. Sigmund had started talking quickly while Marie simply sat down on a couch and stared. Intently. Right at Renn.

It was unnerving.

Sigmund has started to ramble a bit. Something along the lines of "I'm going to work my very hardest to keep you all alive! We'll get you the greatest sponsors ever!" and so on. His last words caught Renn's attention.

"So, are you guys going to have an alliance together? I wanted to try to present you as a united front."

Daya and Nikolai looked at each other and seemed to come to an unspoken agreement. Nikolai was the one who spoke up. "We'll stick together," he said quietly. "Any objections?" Kaylin and Renn shook their heads no.

Daya shook her head no as well, her eyes wide. "All for one and one for all."

"That is, until the final four."

All eyes turned to face Marie. Kaylin looked levelly at the Mentor while Daya stared at her in shock. Nikolai seemed to be in the same state of mind as Renn was, "She's joking, right?"

Marie stood up slowly and looked each kid in the eye before speaking. "I think you all know this, but you cannot all survive. In order to make sure District 6 has a Victor again, we have to choose one of you to be our Victor. Last year, I chose Gilderoy. Gilderoy won. This method works, and it is the best chance you have for survival. Either one of you survives, or you all die," she said solemnly. Sigmund looked like he wanted to speak up and say something, but a glare from Marie silenced him. Gilderoy didn't respond either.

"So?" demanded Marie.

Kaylin spoke up. "We won't choose between ourselves. Either you support all of us, or you support none of us.

Marie sighed. "It seems I have been thwarted again another year. Sigmund, do your thing, and fail yet again." She walked out the door next to Renn into the hallway and slammed it shut. A soft noise drifted through the door, but Renn ignored it, turning instead to face Sigmund and Gilderoy.

"I say you guys make a big alliance. There are a lot of kids this year so it's possible."

Gilderoy nodded enthusiastically, his black hair getting messed up. "Form a sort of anti-career group. Don't actually state that though. Just get a group of kids large enough to stand a chance against the Careers."

Sigmund grinned. "And never forget, there is strength in brains that even brawn can't overcome."

"I was in school with most of you guys, and I know you're all really smart. We're going to have to out-smart the enemies, cool?"

Nikolai nodded enthusiastically and grinned. Soon, everyone was talking about strategies, listen to your stylists, be smart, don't go straight to the Cornucopia, and stuff like that. Before Renn even knew it, he was yawning and making his way towards an empty compartment where he could sleep until their arrival at the Capitol. Hushed voices stopped him from turning the corner. He pressed himself against the wall, and listened.

"If you agreed with me, why did you speak out?" It was Marie.

"They have to trust me," replied Kaylin. _Kaylin?_

"So you plan on stabbing them in the back?" Marie sounded a bit amused.

"Of course not!" Kaylin whispered angrily. "I intend to let others do that! But I need them to trust me while you send _me_ all the sponsor stuff. You need to pick a tribute to win? Pick me! I'm a winner, Miss Argon. I'm _your_ winner." Kaylin stopped and spoke up again. "When I win, I'll help you mentor. I'll make sure that we have a Victor every single year."

"I can see you're a winner, girl," said Marie. One could practically hear the smirk in her voice. "And now you'll be my winner."

Renn peeked around the corner just in time to see the two shake hands. A deal was made. Kaylin was going to win. Daya and Nikolai would die. And so would he. Unless he did something about it.

But he wasn't going to tell the others. No. He was going to be smart about this. Wait for the perfect time. The perfect opportunity. To win.

**~District 7~Ash Boxelder~**

Ash looked out the window of the train as they sped through the countryside. Although she hadn't seen her father and brothers on the platform, she could remember their goodbyes like they just happened. Which they did.

It had been exactly seven minutes and twelve seconds since she said goodbye to her family. Scratch that, seven minutes and fifteen seconds.

"_Why did you do it, Ash?" asked little Lee. "Why did you volunteer?" _

"_You don't think I can win?" _

"_I don't want you in the Games!" wailed Rem. Tears leaked out of his brown eyes. "I don't want you there!" As Rem started to cry, Nicholas did as well. Ash was left staring at her father and her three little brothers, two of whom were in hysterics. _

_Mister Rowan Boxelder quickly ushered his sons out of the room. "Why did you do it, Ash?" _

"_You don't think I can win," Ash accused. _

_Rowan shook his head, his brown hair swinging into his eyes. "You don't need to prove yourself to me, dear. I know you're a brave, strong, beautiful young lady. You wining the Hunger Games is not going to make me think any better of you." _

"_So you don't think that I can do it?" _

_Father and daughter both gave each other level stares. "I don't think you can do it, I know you can. But I didn't need you to risk your life to prove something like this to me!" _

"_I need to prove it to _me_." _

_Rowan sighed. "Come back to me, my girl. Promise you'll come back." _

"Yo everyone!" A loud voice startled Ash from her musings as she practically jumped out of her seat. Bink Hum loudly tapped a wineglass with a silver knife and sang at the top of his lungs. "It is time to meet… your Mentors!" he roared.

The door to the compartment opened and an older man walked in. "Meet Mister Adler Catalpa, Winner of the 712th Hunger Games! This clever old man is a survivor, and he'll make survivors out of you too!"

Adler rolled his eyes at Bink and grinned good-naturedly at the eccentric man. Bink grinned back, his skeletal tattoos making the movement grotesque. "Your other Mentor is… Miss Harietta Mull!"

The door to the compartment opened once more and a young woman with mousy brown hair walked in. She didn't react to Bink at all, and she didn't even look at the tributes in the compartment, choosing to concentrate on her worn loafers. The boy next to Ash, Carter Mason, seemed to freeze.

Bink outlined the Games Harietta won and spun around in a circle. "Alrighties everyone!" sang Bink. "It's time to chow down!" A group of servants ran in with food and quickly piled the table with it. Mountains of food sat on the table and Carter screamed.

"It's like _heaven_!"

Bink grinned. "That it is! Now, dig in!"

Ash picked up a plate and piled it high with scrambled eggs. It was still pretty early in the morning, and it wasn't yet time to switch to lunch and dinner foods. And Ash was unwilling to change her eating habits just because of all the yummy food available. No sir-e. Things were going the Ash way or the high way.

Ash sat at the table in between Carter and the other female tribute. The girl (Eagle? Aegle?) still had the bizarre paint designs covering her face and was completely silent. Even through the process of stuffing as much food down her throat as possible, she was silent.

Mid-meal, Carter turned to face Ash.

"So…"

Ash raised an eyebrow.

…

Carter cleared his throat. "So… I was wondering if you wanted to have an alliance, you know, 'cause we're in the same district and all—"

"No."

…

Carter just stared, his amber eyes fixed on Ash. She noticed that he had a little bruise above his left eyebrow, almost as if he fell off of something. Probably a tree.

"Woah, there!" said Carter, throwing his hands in the air. "At least hear me out."

"I don't need your help to win the Games, and I won't accept it either," replied Ash calmly, digging into her plate of scrambled eggs. "I'm not going to drag around some dead weight with me."

"I… I'm not dead weight!" Carter sputtered. Balsa, the other boy, smirked a bit at the going-ons.

Ash simply shrugged.

A few minutes later, Harietta gasped. "Isn't that my silverware?"

Carter groaned.

**~District 8~Fabian Rune~**

They had been on the train for about three hours and Robyn Kramer was still cheerfully grinning. "Look!" she cried, pointing out the window. "That bird is completely blue!"

Fabian Rune sighed helplessly and turned to the other two tributes, shrugging. "I've told her at least twenty times now, she still doesn't get it!"

The other girl, a fourteen-year-old with brown hair, shrugged. "I think she's just trying to block out the events of today from her memory. It's been a pretty traumatic experience for her and she's only twelve."

The other boy, Talatan, nodded. "I agree with Holly. I think it's going to take a bit more before she realizes what's going on."

"This can't be healthy," groaned Fabian.

"Let me try," a soft voice said. The three kids looked up to see Calico Fustian, the 24-year-old Victor of the 738th Games. She smiled, her blue eyes gentle. "I'll try to talk to her."

Fabian nodded and Calico went to sit next to Robyn by the window. She pulled the little girl into her arms and said something to her. After talking for a bit, Robyn's eyes went wide and she whimpered. Suddenly, she tossed her arms around Calico's shoulders and began to bawl.

Holly groaned and put her head in her hands. "Why? I just don't get it…"

Talatan nodded sadly. "It's not fair, but we have to live with it."

"Or die with it," quipped Fabian. Talatan rolled his eyes.

Holly sighed, pulling her head out of her hands. "So, what do you think of our other Mentor?" she asked, gesturing to the 40-something year old man sitting with Sparrow at the other side of the train.

Almost at the same time, Talatan and Fabian replied.

"He's rude."

"He's smart."

Holly raised her eyebrows. "… Okay…"

"Well, it's true!" said Fabian defensively. "When he walked in here, he was completely abrupt with us. I know we're kids to him, but we're not stupid."

"Good point," said Holly. "But I have to agree with Talatan; don't you know how he won his Games?" Fabian shook his head no. "He won the 724th Games by using traps and tricks. He's really, really smart and we have to listen to him."

"Well, we can't listen to him if he doesn't really mentor us."

Talatan grinned. "We just have to make him want to mentor us!"

XX

Fabian sat at a giant table heaped with food next to Robyn. The little girl had been incredibly depressed an hour ago when Calico spoke to her, but she was back to almost jumping off of the walls.

"Is she okay now?" asked Holly, leaning over Robyn to speak to Fabian.

"Don't you think you should ask her?" asked Fabian. Holly shrugged.

"Good point." She gently grabbed Robyn's arm as the girl went to pick up even more food to pile onto her plate. "Robyn, dear?"

Robyn turned her head so her peculiar eyes met Holly's. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked happily. "I have lots of food! Daddy got it for my birthday!"

Fabian's eyes widened and he met Holly's gaze frantically. _She forgot again?_

Suddenly, Holly snapped her fingers. "I got it!" she hissed. She jumped up from the table and dragged Fabian and Talatan aside to stand by the mentors. "A couple years ago, a little girl fell off of a tree…"

"Where is this going?" demanded Demetry. _Yup. He's rude._

Calico gave Demetry a reproachful look. "If you would let her finish…" She smiled encouragingly at Holly.

"Well, she fell out of a tree in her back yard and had to go to visit the doctors. She was lucky to be alive, but she suffered short term memory loss that keeps acting up," Holly pointed to Robyn cheerfully cramming a pancake into her mouth. "Robyn was that girl."

Talatan groaned. "I heard about that!" he said. "I can't believe I didn't realize that it was Robyn…"

"So…" Fabian's voice trailed off. "Does that mean we'll have to keep reminding her she's in the Games?"

"It does."

**~District 9~Sheldon Reeve~**

Sheldon Reeve held a gold coin in his right hand. As the train slowly crept closer and closer to the Capitol, Sheldon restlessly tossed the coin back and forth between his hands. The train changed speed suddenly, and the coin fell to the floor. It rolled across the compartment and was about to disappear under another couch when it was stopped by a foot.

The foot belonged to the other male tribute. He was only a year older than Sheldon himself; he had coal black hair and was very unassuming. Felan bent down and picked up the coin and held it out to Sheldon.

"This yours?"

"Yup."

Felan tossed the coin to Sheldon, who deftly caught it. "Thanks." The other boy just nodded and resumed his mindless staring out the window.

Sheldon tossed the coin up into the air again, thinking about his goodbyes.

"_This might just be the worst birthday ever." _

"_I'm sure someone in the world has had a worse birthday." _

"_Worse than having their bestest friend in the entire world reaped for the Hunger Games and practically given a death sentence?" _

"_It's nice to know you have faith in me," quipped Sheldon dryly. _

_Rina's head fell into her hands. "I do have faith in you but…" her voice trailed off and she suddenly looked up, tears streaming down her face. "It's not fair!" _

"_I…" Sheldon looked at Rina helplessly. _

"_This is so not fair! When I was born I should have _known_ that I would have horrible luck. My birthday is the freaking _Reaping_, of course I should have seen this, I should have expected this sooner and…" _

_Sheldon grabbed Rina's hands and forced her to meet his eyes. "This is not your fault," he said, serious for a change. "It's wonderful being your friend, and it will be wonderful to continue to be your friend." Rina began crying again and Sheldon pulled her hands. _

"_How about this?" he asked. "You'll have to forgive me, your birthday present will be a bit late. But… how about for your birthday this year, I come back alive?" _

_The corner of Rina's mouth twitched up in a semi-smile. "I guess that's acceptable…" _

_A Peacekeeper walked it. "Time's up." He grabbed Rina and proceeded to drag her out. _

_Before she vanished from the room, Rina called back over her shoulder. "If you ever forget to give me a birthday present after this, I will _never_ forgive you!" _

Sheldon was pulled out of his daydream when someone insistently called his name while shaking his shoulder. "Sheldon? Wake up!" a female voice called. "You did say his name was Sheldon, right? Maybe that's why he's not responding…"

"I am Sheldon."

"Well!" Sheldon looked up to see a young woman with short red curls glaring down at him. "I've been calling your name for the past hour young man!"

"Um," a small voice ventured. "I think it was only ten minutes…" It was one of the female tributes, a small blonde girl who seemed to be twelve.

"You were daydreaming too, Maisie, so it's not like you actually know," said the woman. "My name is Kaylee Jurone and I'm going to be your Mentor this year."

The escort, Valentinez Kaiser, nodded enthusiastically. "Kaylee is very smart! This year is going to be awesome!" he grinned. He flashed the V sign. "Love and peace, guys!" he sang. "I'm gonna get us some nibblies!" He dashed out of the room, his coat getting stuck on the edge of the door for a few seconds before being pulled off roughly.

"Does he mean food?" asked Maisie.

The other boy, Felan, nodded. "Capitol lingo, it's ridiculous!" Maisie giggled softly.

Sheldon took a seat at the table next to the other girl, Xena. Digging into the pile of food in front of him, his mind drifted off again.

_I can't believe this is happening to me… it doesn't seem real at all. I mean, I can feel everything near me, and I can hear all these people. I'm obviously not dreaming, but I could swear that I am. None of this feels real. None of it. _

**~District 10~Fallon Denway~**

The four tributes had boarded the train and met their Mentor, a soft-spoken woman named Rosette Bosal who won exactly 20 years ago. The other female tribute, Lili, had gone and sat in a corner by herself quickly. Dewlap, the other boy, had quickly sat next to her and proceeded to try to talk her ear off, but Lili shrunk within herself until Rosette pulled Dewlap away from her. The hyperactive thirteen-year-old turned his attention to Fallon and Henry and proceeded to talk their ears off as well. But he quickly got bored because Fallon was mildly annoyed and Henry was in a puddle of depression.

_Maybe I was a bit harsh on him…_

For the past three hours on the train, Henry had been wearing the world's most dejected expression. After Fallon rebuked him for his hasty actions, he had been wallowing in misery.

And Fallon felt very bad.

_As stupid as he was about this whole thing, he was still ready to sacrifice his life to keep me safe. It was dumb, but brave. And now he's willing to die for me and I just crushed him…_

Fallon cautiously reached her hand out to Henry. "Henry… I…" she floundered. She put her hand onto his shoulder and sighed. "I'm sorry."

Henry looked up, his blue eyes sad. "I just wanted to…"

"I know." Fallon cut him off. "You were being brave, and selfless, and I just threw that aside like it was worth nothing. But it was worth a lot to me, Henry. You're my best friend, and I don't want to see anything bad to happen to you. You know?"

Henry grinned skeptically. "I must look like a downright idiot, right?"

Fallon smiled. "Totally!" Seeing how Henry's face fell, she quickly finished her thought. "You also look like a brave hero."

"You think?"

Fallon nodded earnestly. "I know. That was a pretty stupid choice, but…" she shrugged. "It was sweet too. You're willing to sacrifice so much for me, it's more flattering than you could ever imagine."

"And you're not just saying this to make me feel better?" asked Henry.

Fallon shook her head no earnestly, her long black hair starting to fall out of its bun. "You know me better than that, silly!" she said. "I wouldn't make you feel better by lying."

Henry grinned, this time for real. "I'm glad…" His voice trailed off. "I guess I didn't really thing this through, did I?"

"Not really…" sighed Fallon. "Live and let live, I suppose. It's too late to change what has happened, and being miserable won't change a thing." She fixed Henry with a glare.

"Alright, Fallon." Fallon stood up to go get some more food. Henry watched her and whispered softly, "I'm sorry."

XX

Fallon was in her compartment, getting ready to take a short nap before arriving at the Capitol when the door opened suddenly. She grabbed a lamp and turned the lights up brighter to disorient the person entering her room. She was about to knock the mysterious person out when…

"Wha?"

"Oh, it's you." Henry's eyes adjusted to the light to see Fallon in a pair of pajamas, holding a lamp poised to hit him on the head. "I wasn't sure who it was. It thought you might be the escort."

"I don't think Drake Hawk is like… _that_," said Henry.

"He's from the Capitol, you can never be sure about them."

Henry shrugged. "Good point… Fallon?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay for a few minutes?" he asked. "I want to tell you something."

"Of course," she said, gesturing to a couple chairs at the side of the room. She sat down next to Henry. "Shoot."

"I…" Henry looked down and fiddled with his fingers for a few minutes. Suddenly, he looked up at Fallon and blurted out, "Ireallylikeyou."

Fallon looked confused. "Well, we're friends… you _should_ like me…"

"No, not like that. I have to tell you before it's too late!" he said earnestly, looking Fallon in her eyes. "I really like you, like, I _love_ you. Fallon, I'm in love with you."

Fallon could only sputter, her brain short-circuited. _What. The. Hell?_

**~District 11~Gardenia~**

"Gardenia?" a gentle voice shook Gardenia out of her reverie.

"Gardenia?" ventured another voice, this one a bit rougher.

"Is she awake?" a different voice.

"Of course she's awake!" said the first voice indignantly. "She's just shocked! Wouldn't you be if…" the voice trailed off. "Wait, that argument doesn't work here. We were all reaped…" Gardenia decided that the first voice belonged to a girl. She looked up from her lap where she was mindlessly fiddling with her broach and met a pair of dark brown eyes. Kind of like warm dark chocolate.

The eyes smiled. "There you go!" said the girl. "How are you doing?"

"Um…" Gardenia stuttered, trying to gather her thoughts. "I…"

"Snap out of it!" said a harsh voice. Gardenia turned to see two young women looking down at her. One of the women was very pregnant, and she was concentrating more on her toes than anything. The other woman wore a mildly annoyed expression and was looking at Gardenia as if she was a fly pinned onto a table.

"Gardenia, are you okay?" It was the second voice again, and Gardenia turned to find herself face to face with a young boy her age. His hair was ridiculously blonde, and Gardenia reached out to touch it.

"Wow," she whispered. "This is a really incredible dream. Even your hair has texture!"

"Shmimi, she thinks she's dreaming!" This voice was the third one that had tried to get her attention, and belonged to an older boy with mocha skin.

"You're kidding," said the first girl – Shmimi? – "You can't be serious Colby!"

"It makes sense though," said the boy. "I mean, this is a pretty traumatic experience for anyone, and she's very young."

"What about me?" It was the boy with the textured hair.

"You're just a freak of nature, Mew," said Shmimi.

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot." He wandered over to the table that had food piled on it and began digging through the sweets, leaving the others to handle Gardenia's… state of oblivion.

Shmimi put her hand gently on Gardenia's. "Honey?" she said. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but everything going on right now is real. You're in the Hunger Games, and these two women will be our mentors." She gestured to the annoyed-looking lady. "That is Lilac Cailleach and that," she pointed to the pregnant woman, "is Nessa Greenwood."

Gardenia fixed Shmimi with a probing look. "So… you mean this is real?"

"Sadly, yes."

"… well, fudge."

"Is delicious!" quipped Bartholomew, who was returning from the food table. His mouth was covered with chocolate and he held a block of fudge in his right hand. "You want some?"

Gardenia nodded, and Mew broke off a piece of fudge and gave it to her. At the begging look in Shmimi's eyes, he handed the older girl a piece of chocolate too. As one, the two girls sighed.

"This is the best thing ever…"

"Li?" a soft voice called. Heads turned to see Nessa, who was finally looking up. She had big blue eyes and freckles across her nose. "I want… to eat caviar."

Lilac sighed. "Where am I going to get caviar while on a train, Nessa?" she asked.

"I dunno… I just," Nessa's eyes took a puppy dog quality. "I _really_ want caviar. I might die if I don't get any."

Colby groaned. "Just our luck to end up with the pregnant mentor…"

**~District 12~Evelyn Dune~ **

"Evelyn, catch!" Evelyn nearly missed grabbing the pork chop out of the air. When she had asked Seneca to 'please pass me a pork chop', she hadn't expected the girl to pick up a pork chop and chuck it across the table to her District-mate. Nope. That was definitely not what Evelyn had in mind.

_Well, pigs _are_ flying. I guess Mark really did smile back there._

Evelyn smiled slightly to herself and dug back into her food. She could hear Seneca talking at full speed to the other boy, Will Darius. The seventeen-year-old brunette wore an amused expression on his face as he dodged a few pieces of pork that Seneca sent flying as she spoke excitedly about something or another.

The escort, Paul Iceburg, looked like he was about to pass out from horror at Seneca's nonexistent table manners. Even the Mentor, Chrissa Venn, looked disgusted. She sat at the side of the table secluded from the others, nursing a bottle.

"Gosh!" Evelyn found herself saying to Mark. "I'm so nervous, you know? I mean, I could possibly die now, and even though I basically just said goodbye to my family, it really hasn't sunk in yet. I mean, one day in the next couple weeks I'm going to wake up screaming and it'll be like _bam!_ I can die here. And suddenly everything will sink into perspective. But as of right now, I just feel like I'm getting ready to do some public speaking or something, not like I'm going to my death and…" Evelyn trailed off. "Sorry, I'm rambling." She turned to Mark and blushed a little, the color that would have been present on her cheeks hidden by the olive tone of her skin. Mark smiled slightly.

"That was a very impressive bit of rambling," he replied. "I don't think I've ever heard anything or anyone speak that fast, even her." He gestured to Seneca, who had now started to dig into a piece of cake. Paul was puffing on his cigar and trying to calm himself down while Chrissa started on another bottle.

"Ah, it's an acquired talent, I suppose," said Evelyn. "I have trained in the art of fast-talking since I was a little kid. My dad said it's a skill I have."

Evelyn grinned widely and dug back into her food. _Who'd have thought that I would be able to have a good conversation with Mark Vires? Even if it's a bit one-sided, but he's really not that scary and he's actually listening._

"So, how did your goodbyes go?"

Mark raised an eyebrow and Evelyn and gave her a stern look, almost as if he was trying to intimidate her off.

"Well?" she asked, completely ignoring his expression.

"It was ok."

"Ok?" asked Evelyn. "You just had a conversation with your family basically saying, 'sorry about this, but I'm going to my death now Mom'…"

"My mom passed away when I was little."

Evelyn stopped completely, a fork hanging from her open mouth. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"No big deal."

Evelyn was about to protest, but the look on Mark's face made her quiet down. His long blonde hair covered his eyes, but Evelyn could see the pain within the blue orbs that he was trying to disguise. She struggled with herself.

_Mention something and comfort him? Or leave him alone and wait for him to talk?_

She looked at Mark again. The fact that the boy had actually talked to her was a miracle, but to be honest with herself, she didn't really know him at all.

_When he's ready to talk, he'll talk. Until then, I'll just be as much as a friend to him as I can be in this situation._

**XX**

So I deleted all of the information relating to a SYOT story in this so it won't get taken down, so any other questions will need to be handled on a forum. I've opened a Hunger Games SYOT Forum and a topic for this story so we can discuss it and get stuff done without breaking 's rules :D Here is your link (minus spaces). Click on the topic "The 30th Quarter Quell" for info :D

FORUM LINK (minus spaces): http :/forum .fanfiction .net /forum /silvernightstorms_SYOTs /90154/

I am going to have sponsor points posted on the forum three days after this chapter is posted, and it will be updated there. Additionally, sponsoring rules will be up there too. Check the forum now please, and submit any information that you haven't. I have an important announcement up there about sponsoring, so please do so!

Finally, I hope you enjoyed this giant monster chapter that was 22 pages on word. It took a lot of work, so please review, even if it is to nitpick and pull my self esteem down. Because even that is appreciated. I want to hear from all you lurkers! :)


	15. Chariot Rides

So… … … Hi :) Erm… sorry for disappearing. Real life took a turn for the WTF? and I've only been able to write/been motivated to write oneshots. I haven't had much inspiration for this story lately, but _I promise this to you guys right now. I won't abandon this story, no matter how much my inspiration dies. Seriously. Sirius-ly. Promise. Pinky Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die. _But I'm back for a bit, school started again and it's my Senior year in High School, and life is back to it's semi-insane, loveable, self.

You might have noticed, but I deleted the first three chapters of this story because they are not really chapters. A lot of stories have been getting reported for having non-chapters as chapters, and I'd rather like to avoid all that ^_^' If you have already reviewed for the original chapters 15, 16, & 17, you won't be able to review again while signed in. However, I hope you will still take the time to send me a review anonymously (you'll get sponsor points for it if you PM me saying/confirming that it was you, or a message on the forum thread for this story confirming your identity)!

All SYOT activity on this story has been redirected to my friend's Hunger Games forum, "District 15". You can find it here.

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Please go to that link (minus spaces) in order to ask questions and participate in the SYOT aspects of this story. Thank you!

A little thank you/shout out to whisperasweknowit for catching all of my typos/finger-fails! :) Lose & Loose = the bane of my existence.

**Disclaimer: **Seriously. I don't own Hunger Games.

**The 30****th**** Quarter Quell**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary: **625 years after the failed rebellion, the districts are still in darkness. Now, the new president brings you the 30th Quarter Quell! Who will survive? Is there hope for Panem's future?

**Chapter 15: Chariot Rides**

**~District 1~Service "Vice" Collector~**

"Now an't you jus' purr-fectly dah'ling!"

From the moment those six words (if they could be called that) left the lips of the woman in front of her, Vice knew she was doomed; doomed to wear frilly clothing and to be handled like a dress-up doll.

Technically, she had already been handled like a dress-up doll. Her stylist team had worked in sync to strip every last bit of hair from her body. Then, they attacked her face with a pair of tweezers and proceeded to shape her eyebrows into thin lines. One of the members of the prep team, a simpering woman with blood red skin, had tried to take a pair of scissors to Vice's hair. A glare stopped her in her tracks. Vice wouldn't let this stupid lady touch her hair. The only person who got to do that was the stylist, and even then, it wouldn't be pretty.

But when the stylist walked in, Vice nearly fell over on her face. Emma Iva was an older woman of about fifty-something, and she was ridiculously flamboyant. Her clothes consisted of a leather jumpsuit and a cape. Vice supposed that she thought it looked clever. It looked stupid. Completely.

To top it off, Emma had purple hair that was the precise appearance, texture, and consistency of bubble gum flavored cotton candy. Coupled with the bright pink leather jumpsuit, Emma was so bright that even a blind person could have seen her.

And when Emma gushed those six utterly ridiculous words in her bizarre accent, Vice felt strangely possessed to bang her head repeatedly against a wall. Actually, the feeling wasn't strange at all. Nor was it uncalled for. In fact, Vice strongly suspected that most people would feel the same way if they were in her position. Most people not including the other 'stylish' citizens of the Capitol. Most _normal_ people.

Many people were under the mistaken notion that Careers (specifically those from One) liked everything about the Capitol. That was wrong. Very wrong. Careers merely _tolerated_ everything about the Capitol. And even that was a stretch. A very big one. _Lapdogs of the Capitol we certainly are not, but we will do _anything_ to keep our… favorable position intact._

Vice had been privy to hearing all of the "wonderful benefits" of being a Victor. So far, she could only find one – the big house. Being a Victor sounded more like being an indentured servant locked up in a pretty little mansion. But if Vice did win, which she planned on doing, she would never have to work again. Granted, she would need to bend to the every whim of the quasi-psychotic President of Panem, but even that was better then spending the rest of her days sequestered in some factory polishing gems for all of eternity.

Because even a small breath of freedom was enough to make Vice sign her life away. She was not going to spend the rest of her life in the mundane environment of One. She was going to go out in the world, she was going to win the Hunger Games, and she was going to live the life of luxury. Screw the rest of the world. When Vice won, Vice was the only person who mattered.

"Beyoooooootiful!" crowed Emma, causing Vice to be roused from her musings. In the hour or so that she had zoned out, Emma had transformed her completely. She was dressed in an ivory ball gown that highlighted her figure. The bodice of the gown was completely covered in diamonds, and diamonds were scattered across the skirts. When the light struck Vice, the entire ensemble seemed brighter than the sun. Vice's long hair had been curled and pulled up into an elaborate up-do with a delicate tiara on top. A tendril of curling blonde hair framed her face that was enhanced with makeup. Her eyes were lightly lined with charcoal eyeliner and her lashes were heavily coated in mascara. Rose blush had been lightly dusted on her cheeks and her lips were painted a blood red. Although her entire body was spray painted silver, the effect was glamorous instead of gaudy.

Vice had to agree with Emma on this statement, she really looked quite… beautiful.

**~District 2~Kang Ho~ **

"I can't believe I have to dress like a frickin mermaid."

_And I can't believe I look like a jewelry box puked on me, but hey, I'm not complaining._

"Technically, you're a mer_man_," quipped Oceana. Hue shot her an annoyed glare and she merely shrugged.

"And it's a good look," said Milly. "I like it better than our dresses." The kids from two were stuffed into metallic grey prom dresses that were covered in pieces of various gems. Although they looked very pretty from afar, the lights shining in the prep area were a bit blinding. Milly could barely see two feet in front of her because of the rainbow hues that her dress gave off. Vice and Asla knew how the two girls felt; their dresses were similarly blinding, albeit all one color.

"Just be glad you're not from 5, man," said Zeph, pointing to tributes dressed as beakers and calculators. Zeph ran his hands through his bronze hair, making it stand on the end. "And we shouldn't complain; we look sexy. Sponsors will be clamoring to give us stuff."

Hue shrugged slightly, his muscles rippling. "At least your tail's a manly color," he groaned. Zeph tried to flip his tail and nearly fell. "Why did they give me purple?"

"What's wrong with purple?" asked Kaela. "It's not a girly color."

"Well, it's not explicitly manly either."

"Just be happy you don't have _pink_," Kaela spat, gesturing to her makeshift hot-pink tail.

"You're a girl, so it's okay for you."

"But I _hate_ pink," moaned Kaela. "And you're sexist!"

"And I _hate_ purple," Hue made a face. "And I'm not sexist."

Janie rolled her eyes. "You two are hopeless…" she laughed, fiddling with the neckline of her dress. "Is this too deep?" she asked Kaela.

"Looks just right to me," replied Lux, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Kaela seemed to lose a few brain cells and Janie rolled her eyes. Kang moved so he stood next to Janie and shot the other boy a glare. Sensing a fight, Vice strategically placed herself between the two guys and turned to face Kang.

"I need to talk to you," she demanded, pulling the other boy aside. She grabbed Janie and dragged the pair to stand on the other side of the grey horses that pulled the District 2 chariot.

Kang watched Janie out of the corner of his eyes as Vice glared at the two. Janie seemed to quiver for a bit under the heat of the stare, but then gathered herself up and looked Vice defiantly in the eye. Vice smirked slightly.

"Now, three of the tributes from two were actually reaped this year. I know Verigo and Milly refused volunteers, but _you_," Vice looked at Janie, "were positively terrified and _you_," Vice fixed her stare of Kang, "had to build up your _nerve_ to volunteer. What's going on here?"

"What do you mean?" asked Janie cautiously, not wanted to set off the volatile girl.

Vice rolled her eyes and snorted. "Don't act clueless, you know what I mean. Are you Career material or not?"

"Course we are!" snapped Kang.

"Were you trained?"

"All kids in Two are trained, whether they intend to go into the Games or not," replied Janie. "I never intended to go into the Games, but I have been trained."

"You look out for yourself, Vice," said Kang. "Or someone might just try to overrule you as the leader of the Careers."

Vice seemed to swell a bit, as if preparing herself to blast Kang out of the water. But she restrained herself. Instead, she spun on her heel and walked away from the other two tributes as fast as possible. When she disappeared from view, Janie let out a small sigh of relief.

"Thank God she's gone…" she whispered. She put her hands on her abdomen and took deep calming breaths. After a few seconds, she was composed again and proceeded to walk away.

Kang reacted quickly, reaching out and grabbing her hand. Janie spun around, confusion on her face.

"Why did you lie to Vice?" he asked quietly.

Guilt flitted across Janie's face, almost too quick to catch. "What do you mean?"

Kang pulled Janie back so she was standing a few inches from him. He bent down, whispering in her ear so quietly she almost thought she had missed it. "Don't play dumb. We both know you're anything but."

Janie sighed slightly again, and pulled a bit away from Kang. "She can't suspect that we're not Careers."

"She'll find out in the arena when we're completely inept with weapons," retorted Kang. "We've never been trained, it was just plain nonsense that we got reaped."

"It was plain nonsense that _I_ got reaped," quipped Janie. "You volunteered! And you had no experience! Why would you do that?"

_Tell her! Tell her, tell her, tell her!_

Kang just shrugged.

Janie pulled her hand out of his grasp. "I don't know about you, but I intend to do my very best to survive this mess. Joining up with the Careers is our best option. We have to convince them we're capable, or we die. It's very simple. I just chose our best path for survival." Janie glared at Kang, as if daring him to disagree. "You can't tell Vice. If you do, we're both dead."

Kang nodded wordlessly, and Janie flitted away.

**~District 3~Lukas Highwind~ **

Cramming four people into a chariot built for two wasn't a very productive task. After a few moments of cursing and scrambling, some stable hands at the Remake Center (a giant stable) ran over and apologized.

"We mixed up the chariots for this District, so sorry!" scrambled the woman, looking like she was guilty of a third degree crime.

"We'll fix this right away!" simpered the man. Lukas looked at the man's purple lipstick and groaned. _Idiots, the lot of them._

Aura took it upon herself to reply to the two. "Don't worry about it," she said, smiling slightly. Smiling emptily. The two didn't notice, too relieved to care. A few moments later, a significantly larger chariot stood in front of the four.

"Well, after you," said Simon, gesturing to Aura. The older girl jumped onto the chariot and pulled the other girl up. Simon took Aura's offered hand and clambered up as well. Aura turned to Lukas, holding her hand out.

Lukas ignored her, jumping onto the chariot unassisted.

"So… I was thinking…" Simon's voice trailed off until the other three kids were looking at him. Veronica looked terrified, clinging onto her brother's hand. Aura was leaning towards the other girl in a slightly protective manner. Lukas was standing off to the extreme side of the chariot, avoiding the other three tributes.

Simon cleared his throat and continued. "I think we should all have an alliance."

Veronica nodded quickly, glad that her brother was with her. Aura smiled slightly. "I like that idea," she said. "I'd love to ally with you guys."

Simon grinned. He turned to face Lukas and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Well?"

"No."

Simon froze for a second. "Oh…" he said. "Do… do you already have another alliance?"

"No."

"So… you're just going to go alone?"

"Yes."

"Uh…" Simon stumbled for a bit, trying to decide if having Lukas in his alliance was worth the hassle. He shrugged, giving up. "You do what you wanna do, I guess," he said. "Good luck man, you'll need it."

"I don't need anything from you," retorted Lukas. His expression was not particularly hostile, and neither was his tone, but the other three flinched away from him.

_It's not like it matters. I don't need them to win this. I don't need anyone's help to win this._

**~District 4~Hue Storme~ **

Hue zoned in and out of Oceana complaining about her stylist team. He slowly inched towards the chariot until Oceana got the hint and stopped speaking to him. Moving his blonde hair away from his eyes, he brushed his hand through the coat of one of the brawny white horses saddled up to the chariot.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Hue caught a commotion. Next to a chariot that seemed to be made of leaves, a tiny girl was glaring at a young man with mocha colored skin. Little snips of their conversation drifted close to Hue's ears.

"For all I … could be a psychopath!"

"… a good reason to not ally with me!"

The girl stormed away from the boy who was presumably one of her district partners. Hue's casual survey of the two ended abruptly when the girl's dark eyes met his. If possible, her glare grew even more venomous and she stomped up the line of chariots so she was face to face with him.

"Well?" she growled.

Hue raised his eyes. The girl was standing on her tippy toes, and she barely came up to his shoulders. He smirked slightly. _Is she actually trying to _intimidate_ me?_

"Well," replied Hue casually, making the girl frown even more.

"Why are you looking at me?" she demanded.

Hue frowned slightly at the antagonistic expression on the girl's face. "Keep frowning like that and you'll get real ugly, real fast. You're what, thirteen? That's not a flattering age to have wrinkles."

The girl swelled up and seemed to explode in Hue's face. "Thirteen? You think I'm _thirteen_? For your _information_, I am _sixteen years old_ and you are an absolute _dunderhead_! No, you're a total and complete _asshat_!"

Hue managed to keep a straight face for a grand total of seven seconds before he burst into laughter. The outraged look in the girl's eyes was more than enough to make up for his tarnished reputation and dignity. "I watched the reapings. I know how old you are," managed Hue in between snorts. "Shmi or something, girl from Eleven, volunteered for a criminal. Your district partner might be on the right track, you know? Only a psychopath would volunteer for that girl."

"What do you know?" growled Shmimi, placing her small hands on her hips and glaring even more at Hue. _For someone so tiny, she sure likes to pick fights._ Hue found his eyes slowly drifting down her frame. Her uncreative stylists had decided to dress her up like a tree nymph, or at least, his/her _image_ of a tree nymph. She wore a flowing, transparent green gown with little underneath it. Shmimi made an angry noise and Hue's eyes snapped up to meet hers. If looks could kill…

"From one psychopath to another," Hue grinned, slyly acting like he _wasn't_ looking through her dress (she didn't seem to buy his act), "I think I know quite a bit."

A loud noise next to his ear prevented Hue from continuing his conversation with Shmimi. "What?" he demanded, turning to meet the eyes of one of the males from One. It was the older one. Lox, maybe? No, it was Lux. The dark haired eighteen-year-old who had already flirted with every female Career.

"Are you recruiting her to be a Career?" Lux demanded.

"Who died and put you in charge?"

"No one," replied Lux casually. "Yet." A barely perceptible grin was present on his face.

Hue rolled his eyes. _Cocky. Overconfident. And dead._ "So what if I am?"

"You can't recruit without Vice's permission." Lux gestured to one of the girls from One.

"I'm not asking for her permission," replied Hue. "I do what I want, when I want, how I want. I take orders from no one, even your _leader_."

"I can speak for myself, thanks," quipped Shmimi, looking back and forth between the two glaring boys. Both of them were taller than six feet, and they towered over her.

"Well," Lux smirked. "You're pretty," his eyes lingered on Shmimi's chest and she clenched her fists, "and you seem resourceful so I don't think that _I'd_ personally mind having you as a Career…"

Shmimi raised her eyebrows. "How in hell's name did you get the idea I'd want to be a Career?" She was trembling now. Hue mentally begged Lux to make her angrier. He desperately wanted to see her punch the boy. And if her dress (not that it could be called that) hiked up a _bit_ more…

Hue shook his head and fixed his eyes firmly onto Lux._ Can't afford to get distracted now._

Lux was taken back for a second, before he quickly regained his composure. Completely ignoring Shmimi, he turned back to Hue. "Make the decision now, man. Either you're in, or you're out. Career or not?"

"Not," Hue responded before he really thought. Shaking his head to clear it, he fought to maintain his blasé composure.

"What?" For the second time in a few minutes, Lux wore a dumbstruck expression. "What do you mean, not?"

"You asked the question, and I answered," replied Hue, delighting in Lux's confusion (he hadn't _intended_ to cause it, but it was enjoyable nonetheless). "Career or not. I chose not. Now shoo!"

Shmimi's growling exterior broke down momentarily as she grinned at the flapping motions Hue made with his hand. But within seconds, the frown was back, and at full force. "Don't you dare expect me to actually ally with you!" snarled Shmimi, crossing her arms across her chest.

Hue simply rolled his eyes. "You're stubborn to the end, aren't you?"

**~District 5~Katya Ivanova~ **

"I want to be a Career."

The girl in charge of the Careers, a tan sixteen-year-old blonde raised one elegantly shaped eyebrow (curtsy of a rabid stylist team). "Sorry," she sniffed. "This group is invitation only." She gave Katya's test-tube attire a scathing look.

The girl standing next to the 'boss' spoke up. "You could be my twin, but that doesn't mean you have what it takes here. A pretty face is no protection in the arena. And we're not about to pick up some dead weight."

Katya pulled herself up to her full height and glared at the two younger girls. "I have what it takes!" she snarled. She tossed her hair and pulled a ring off of her middle finger. She tossed it to Asla – who barely managed to grab it – and walked away.

"Look at that very closely. Surely _you'll_ be able to identify it. Then tell me you don't want me as a Career."

The minute test-tube-Katya was out of hearing range, Vice spun to face Asla. "What does she mean, 'you'll be able to identify it?'"

Asla held the ring up to Vice's eye. "See this?" she said. "It's a genuine District 1 diamond set in a 24 karat gold band. It's made in our home district, and my mum was a gem examiner. Of _course_ I'd be able to identify this."

Vice rolled her eyes. "I guess that's true," her voice trailed off. "So what's so special about it?"

"You don't find it odd that a random girl from 5 has something this expensive?" said Asla. "This is Capitol-quality stuff. People from 1 don't even have this."

"And?"

"I'm gonna have to spell it out for you, won't I?"

"Spell it out for me, or die by my hand in the arena," said Vice casually.

Asla rolled her eyes and continued. "This ring must be a family heirloom…"

"So?" demanded Vice, cutting Asla off. "Get to the point!"

"I would get to the point if you'd actually give me a minute to speak!" snarked Asla. The second girl took a few deep, calming breaths. "As I was saying, the ring must be an heirloom. It must have been in her family ever since the Second Rebellion, since that was the last time that products from the Districts flowed freely amongst each other."

Vice gave Asla another 'hurry up!' look.

"This ring looks like it could be that old. It's an antique, and gems haven't been cut this way for 600 years." Asla held the ring up to the light, letting the rays shine through it. "If you look carefully, there is a slight irregularity in the gem that looks like a fish hook. This ring is famous; I'm surprised there wasn't a big commotion about it when Katya registered it as her token.

"This ring was the engagement ring that Finnick Odair gave to Annie 675 years ago."

Vice looked at Asla a few moments before laughing. "You're shitting me."

Asla rolled her eyes and gave the other girl a small grin. "I have better things to do than mess with your head, Service," she quipped. "I'm completely serious."

"So you're telling me that this random-ass girl from Five is actually the great-times-something _granddaughter_ of Finnick Odair?"

"Right in one," replied Asla. "I knew you'd get it eventually."

"Mock me again and I'll…"

"I know, I know," groaned Asla. "You'll get me in the arena."

Vice grinned. "You're pretty smart. I knew you'd get it eventually."

"So…" Asla trailed off. "Are we letting Ivanova in or not?"

"You know her name?"

"Know your competition," retorted Asla. "Well?"

Vice stopped and thought for a couple moments before fixing Asla with a piercing stare. "She might be a threat if we don't let her join."

"Keep your… _friends_ close and your enemies closer."

"Exactly."

"It seems to me that you had made up your mind even before the ring."

"I'm not gonna win by being an idiot."

Asla smirked. "Well, then. We should tell the newest Career about her triumph."

"Or her doom," retorted Vice, smirking back at Asla.

**~District 6~Nikolai Antimony~ **

There was an almost imperceptible difference in the way Renn treated Kaylin. Nikolai almost thought that he had imagined it, but after noticing the way the boy had reacted to Kaylin's attempts at conversation, he concluded that something was up. What exactly said something was he wasn't certain. But he was going to find out sooner or later; of that he was _very_ certain.

Nikolai surveyed the other tributes as they walked in. Daya's voice made him turn his head to face the younger girl.

"Do you see anyone you like for an alliance?" she asked quietly, directing the question to her shoes.

"Hmm…" Nikolai looked back at the tributes filing into the stables at a random pace. The Careers were loudly talking, laughing, and joking. _Are they trying to lure us into a false sense of security?_ A few of the kids from Four seemed to have broken off from the main pack, dragging one of the girls from Eleven with them. The other kids from Eleven were busy staring openmouthed at their ostracized member. One of the girls from Ten was cowering to the side of the chariot, trying and failing to avoid eye contact with everyone else. One of the boys from Seven was trying to coax her out of her shell.

"How about that girl from 10 and the boy from 7 talking to her?"

"She seems painfully shy," replied Daya quietly.

Nikolai and Renn both fixed her with amused looks until she finally looked up and blushed.

"I think you two would be good for each other," said Kaylin, smiling. Renn shifted away from her slightly.

Nikolai grinned, nodding enthusiastically to Daya. "You really need to get out of your shell," he said. "And having that girl – Lili, was it? – join us might be helpful to you."

Daya blushed brighter and shrugged, her wide blue eyes making her look surprised. "I suppose," she whispered, fiddling with the end of her short skirt. The stylists of Six had worked completely in sync to dress the kids in what they thought were 'sexy' Doctor's outfits.

Nikolai and Renn both wore skin tight bright blue latex Speedos. They wore stethoscopes around their necks coupled with transparent blue sanitary masks and matching expressions of extreme distaste. Kaylin was wearing a formfitting white dress with a 'cute' nurse's hat on top. To make the entire situation worse, she wore thigh high stockings held up with garters and blood red Mary Janes. Since Kaylin was older than the other kids in her District, she managed to look sophisticated and attractive. She still felt like a clown (having confessed that to Nikolai when she clomped into the stables). But her outfit was _nothing_ compared to Daya's.

Daya was so pale that the first thing her prep team had done was give her a spray tan. Thanks to them, she was now a slightly orange but supposedly attractive color. When her stylist had come in, the man had sighed and mumbled "oh dear" (she had told Nikolai of that occurrence with a barely perceptible taste of hurt behind her words) and then proceeded to say that he would need to 'enhance' her scrawny figure. Curtsy of him, Daya had been stuffed with various foamy items to give her a fuller figure. She was then crammed into the tiniest nurse's costume ever. The red skirt barely covered her bottom and was ridiculously flared. A slightest gust of wind and it would go flying. Her top couldn't even be considered that because of everything it _didn't_ cover. She sported a red halter that was smaller than the smallest bikini she had ever laid her eyes on at the District rec center. A tiny red nurse's hat had been pinned to the top of her short black hair. On top of that, her stylist had forced her into a pair of thigh high white boots with stiletto heels that she couldn't walk in.

When she had first hobbled into the Remake Center, she looked so miserable that Nikolai immediately rushed to her side to hold her up and prevent her from toppling over. He then told her that she looked very nice.

Daya had fixed him with a skeptical look for that statement, after which Nikolai nervously grinned and messed with his hair.

Then, Nikolai jokingly pointed out that she was at least wearing more clothes than he was. Daya shyly whispered back that she wasn't wearing more clothes by a significant enough margin.

They both grinned slightly at their ridiculous situation and decided to scope out the competition.

"I think the two younger kids from Five look nice enough," said Renn, startling Nikolai from his semi-flashback.

"Yeah, I think so too," he replied. "Let's start recruiting as soon as training begins."

**~District 7~Balsa Durian~ **

After Ash bit Carter's head off at the table yesterday, things just went downhill. A set of silverware fell out of Carter's pocket (which was quickly identified to be the property of Miss. Henrietta Mull) and the boy shamefully handed them back to their rightful owner. Balsa chose that moment to sneak in a sarcastic comment about something or another. Carter grinned and then proceeded to ask _him_ if he wanted an alliance.

He said no.

It wasn't that Balsa didn't like Carter. Actually, he liked the boy a lot. Carter seemed like a pretty cool guy, but Balsa didn't _know_ him enough to trust him with his _life_. Balsa didn't know _anyone_ here well enough to trust on that level. It just wasn't going to happen.

It probably would have been a good idea to get an ally. Didn't people with allies survive longer? But Balsa couldn't bring himself to trust someone enough to ally with them. If he couldn't trust his ally to not stab him in his back, they couldn't be allies. And considering how this was the Hunger Games and everyone _needed_ to win, he _couldn't_ trust anyone. Who in their right minds _wouldn't_ stab their ally in the back if the opportunity presented itself? Balsa would definitely stab. Stab first, ask questions later.

And if Balsa couldn't trust himself to be his ally, he _definitely_ could not trust anyone else.

But after Carter asked Balsa for an alliance and was promptly shut down, he turned his attention to Aegle. Now, at least Balsa and Ash _said_ no to Carter. Aegle just fixed him with a frigid glare until he visibly wilted in front of her.

Balsa felt pretty bad for him. But there was no way he was gonna have an alliance with him just to make the other boy feel better. That kind of activity could get one killed. _Would_ get one killed.

Alder had then tried to crack a few jokes to improve the environment of the D7 train, but to no avail. The tributes had all gone their separate ways, each slightly frustrated with the others.

And now, they were all, minus Carter, awkwardly in the chariot, trying to think of something to do. Or at least, Balsa was. Ash was fiddling with her tree body paint, and Aegle was staring pointedly at a random tribute of her choice for exactly five minutes before picking anther tribute to stare at. She was currently starting at Balsa. It made his skin crawl.

Balsa pointedly looked away from the slightly-creepy brunette and heaved a giant sigh.

_I could go talk to people, right? But then they'd ask for an alliance, and I'd awkwardly say no, and then we _wouldn't_ be talking anymore…_

Balsa never thought he'd be in this situation. He thought the Hunger Games would be many things. But never once did he think that the Hunger Games would be _boring_.

**~District 8~Talatan Acetate~**

To say Talatan Acetate was slightly frustrated with himself would be the understatement of the year. Here he was, casually sitting on the fabric-covered chariot for District 8 with Holly next to him, just waiting for him to ask her for an alliance. And he was too shy.

He was to damn shy to simply say, "Hey, you want an alliance?"

It wasn't that he was too shy to talk to her. Oh, he could _talk_ to her just fine. He could talk about anything; the weather, their outfits, the horses, the other tributes, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. He just couldn't ask her for an alliance. What was wrong with him?

Everything.

Talatan sighed heavily and looked over to the chariot right behind them. Fabian had somehow managed to finally get it through to Robyn that she was in the Hunger Games, but the twelve-year-old thought she had volunteered. Ah, well. At least she knew where she was. When they had gotten to the stables, Fabian had taken Robyn firmly by the hand and gone chariot-hopping. They had spent their entire time at the D9 chariot, and were talking up a storm with the girls. Fabian was… conversing? with the brunette and Robyn was talking to the blonde twelve-year-old.

"Hey, listen."

Holly's soft words drew Talatan out of his mental ramblings. He turned to face the brunette and found her staring at him intently, her green eyes glinting.

"What is it?" asked Talatan.

"I…" Holly fumbled for a second, and then continued. "You're a really nice guy. So I want to warn you. I'm in this to win it," she said.

"Who isn't?" replied Talatan philosophically.

"No… I…" Holly sighed. "As kids from the same District, we're kind of expected to ally with each other. But _don't ally with me_."

Talatan frowned, and gave Holly a funny look. "That's the strangest thing I've ever heard."

"No, really!" gasped Holly. "I… I'm not going to keep my allies around. I'm going to kill them when they're not useful anymore. I feel like I… owe you this much, you know? I can't be responsible for the lives of anyone from Eight." She took a shuddering breath, trying to calm herself down. "When I get back home, I don't know how I'll face everyone after _killing_ innocent children. If I kill anyone from Eight, I won't be able to face my family."

Talatan opened his mouth to speak, but Holly held up a hand, giving him a pleading look. Talatan nodded, and let her continue. "I already know I have to kill people. I know that others need to die for me to get out alive. But… You're a nice guy, Talatan. And it's a shame that you were reaped. Especially since this year because I will do anything to win. I just… I _can't_ have your blood on my hands. And I can't be a trustworthy ally. So… just don't even _ask_ me to ally with you. _Please_?"

Some time in the middle of their conversation, Holly had shifted so she had Talatan's hands in a firm grasp as her eyes bore into his dark green irises. A tear looked like it was about to burst from her eyes, and Talatan reached up and gently brushed it away with the frilly sleeves of his suit.

"Don't cry. You'll ruin your makeup." Talatan gave Holly a wry grin. "And you can trust me to not trust you."

Holly burst into tears, throwing herself at Talatan and hugging the older boy as hard as she could. "Thank you…" she whispered. Talatan closed his eyes and sighed almost inaudibly. 

**~District 9~Xena Yumiko~**

The tall boy (Eight) in front of her gave her an appraising look. She stared at him. He tried to smile hesitantly. She stared at him. He shifted from foot to foot, directing his gaze back down to his shoes. She continued to stare at him.

The boy had ambled up to her chariot a few moments ago along with the little girl from his district (who was currently chatting excitedly with Maisie) after the rest of her chariot-mates (excluding Maisie) abandoned her. Apparently she didn't speak enough for their tastes. But in the few moments that he had been standing in front of her, Xena Yumiko has succeeded in making the boy feel incredibly uncomfortable with her constant staring.

Well, he couldn't blame her. There wasn't much else _to_ look at here. And he was looking decidedly peculiar in his… suit? Xena concluded he was wearing a suit. Probably.

The boy was reasonably attractive, but his brown hair lay on his head in hopeless tangles. His stylist had either given up on it or thought it contributed to his image. Whatever it was. Xena looked down to meet his eyes, unconsciously blushing at her thoughts.

He smiled at her again, hesitantly.

This time, she smiled back.

**~District 10~Lili van Buren~ **

Lili slowly sidled away from her District mates when they were talking. Henry and Fallon were alternating between ignoring each other, glaring at each other, and shouting at each other while Dewlap tried to 'help'. Quite frankly, they terrified Lili.

She had almost managed a successful escape when a hand on her arm stopped her. She looked up to see the determined eyes of Dewlap Bovine. Although his expression was serious, his eyes still glittered with a smattering of amusement.

Lili trembled.

"Are you ok?" asked Dewlap gently.

Lili nodded her head furiously. _Just go away, just go away, just go away. _

"You don't seem okay," said Dewlap hesitantly, his eyes starting to worry.

"I'm fine," squeaked Lili. "I swear!" She pulled her arm away from Dewlap and scrambled into the chariot. She turned her body slightly to observe the rest of the stables just in time to see another boy walk up to Dewlap and whisper something in his ear.

Lili ignored them and turned her attention to her legs. The thigh-high cowboy boots her stylist had forced her into were meant to hide all of her scrapes and cuts. Lili rolled down the boot on her left foot and proceeded to pick at one of her newer scabs.

The chariot shook slightly, indicating that someone had climbed on next to Lili. She didn't look up.

"You know, you are going to need allies in the arena if you want to survive," ventured a soft voice. Lili decided that she liked the voice – unlike Dewlap's (or Henry's, or Fallon's), this voice was gentle, soft, soothing, and definitely _not_ accusing.

Lili looked up to meet the light amber eyes of the boy from Seven. He was looking at her curiously while giving her a giant, cheesy grin. Lili noted that the left side of his mouth was slightly drooping, making his smile look a bit crooked.

All in all, he didn't seem too bad.

"I was going to ask those two kids from Five if they wanted to ally with us," said Carter a few moments later. He had basically told Lili that she was – in no uncertain terms – his first ally in the arena. Lili simply nodded. After all, allies were good. And this boy was all right. So an alliance with him didn't seem like much of a problematic situation. Now her new alliance with the boy, who she found out was named Carter Mason from District 7, was just at its inception and he already wanted new members.

"I guess that sounds good," whispered Lili. Carter started to cross the rows of chariots and Lili stuck herself so she was walking right behind him in his shadow, almost invisible. She scratched absently at a scab on her elbow and looked at the kids they were approaching.

There was one boy and one girl and they were about her age. The boy had blonde hair and bright green eyes. He looked like he was about ten, but Lili remembered from the reapings that he was fifteen like her. The girl was very tall with wavy dark brown hair. If Lili hadn't known better, she would have thought the girl was older than her. But she was actually fourteen.

Carter, never one for subtly (as Lili would soon come to realize), marched up to the two and said, without any hesitation whatsoever, "Hey. My name is Carter Mason and I want an alliance with you two. This is my ally, Lili van Buren."

The two kids just looked at him, dumbstruck. The boy's eyes were almost popping out of his head, making him look very bug-like. The girl was just standing there, completely frozen, but she recovered quickly.

"My name is Eurydice Visconti, and this is Tomas Franc. You want to be… allies? Just like that?"

Carter gave her a strange look. "Course I wanna be allies, you guys seem pretty cool. And the hell kind of name is... Errr...I... dice? Well, whatever your name is…"

"Yoo-rid-ee-see," she said, enunciating the word slowly as if she was speaking to a toddler. "And if it's really that complicated, you can just call me Snake."

"Snake seems a bit mean," replied Carter. "No problem, I'll think of another nickname for you." He grinned. "I mean, we _are_ allies now, right?"

Tomas looked at Eurydice, and she looked back at him questioningly. Almost perfectly in sync, the two shrugged. Tomas spoke up this time.

"Allies it is, I suppose."

**~District 11~Colby Ryans~ **

_Why, why, why, why, why, why, why…_

Colby Ryans wanted to bang his head repeatedly against a brick wall. He was an _idiot_. Not even ten minutes ago, things had been going great, considering the situation. Sheldon has just informed him that he found an alliance with a boy from Nine and a girl from Ten. Gardenia had quietly decided to just stick with Colby. Shmimi intended to as well. Things were going swimmingly. But then, Colby had an epiphany.

Shmimi had volunteered _for a psycho_. The girl was her sister, but still. Colby did not understand _why_ Shmimi would volunteer for her younger sister especially after what she had done. But she did.

Colby came to the inevitable conclusion that Shmimi was missing a few of her marbles. He also concluded, after one look at Gardenia, that he didn't want a psycho around what was slowly becoming his alliance. So he told her she needed to leave.

She did, albeit unhappily. _And then she joined the freaking Careers._ Colby wanted to scream. She was going to kill him now. She was going to hold a grudge and then she would – in typical psycho fashion – kill him. Painfully. Slowly. For not letting her into his alliance.

Colby groaned. Not even his ridiculous tree outfit could make him feel worse. He had effectively destroyed his odds for survival before the Games had even started.

**~District 12~Seneca Mellark~ **

"I feel mortified," moaned Evelyn. "Mortified and humiliated."

"I can't possibly imagine why," replied Mark, his face devoid of expression minus a slight lifting of his lips.

Seneca smiled lightly as she watched Evelyn try to cover herself up. The poor girl. Her stylist must have been completely inept because she was, once again, almost completely naked and covered in coal dust (black paint with grey glitter, a very flattering look for none).

_Then again, I'm not much better off._ Seneca was dressed exactly the same way that Katniss and Peeta were dressed 676 years ago. Any hopes she had for escaping the Everdeen-Mellark brand flew straight out the window. Granted, she looked better than Evelyn, Mark, and Will (the boys were dressed as … 'sexy'… coal miners), but her outfit practically screamed, 'Attention Capitol! You're worst nightmare has arrived! Kill me now!'.

Seneca heaved a giant sigh. The fact of the matter was that if the Capitol had any say in the matter, she was going to die in the Hunger Games. She was sure of it.

"Can I talk to you?"

Seneca spun around in shock, coming face-to-face with one of the girls from District Four. _Odair_. She nodded hesitantly.

"You know why they brought us here, right?" asked the girl, abruptly. She fixed Seneca with a piercing look. The younger girl found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the sea-green orbs that held her ensnared. "You know why we ended up in these Games?"

"They're going to eliminate us," whispered Seneca. Kaela nodded. Suddenly, a thought struck the blonde. "But… you volunteered!" she gasped. "They couldn't have planned that!"

Kaela sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging. She suddenly seemed to gain a few years as she gazed forlornly at the rest of the tributes. "That's what I thought at first too. But… when I really think about it… the odds were stacked. What was the likelihood of two sisters, especially one with an illness would be reaped? What was the likelihood of the strongest male that District Four has ever seen would also get reaped in the very same year? No one would volunteer with those odds. No one but me." Kaela's eyes shone fiercely with renewed vigor as she turned back to face Seneca. "They _knew_ I would volunteer. They _knew_ that I wouldn't be able to resist. They set me up. Just as they set you up. Just as they set Katya up. Just as they set Carter up. They're trying to eliminate the vestiges of the 2nd Rebellion. _That_ was the true purpose behind this Quell."

"Do the other two know?"

"I'm sure Katya does. I doubt she's worried. But I'm worried about him." Kaela gestured to Carter Mason. Both girls watched as the attractive young man laughed cheerily with his new allies.

"Maybe he's good at hiding his emotions."

"That's not it and you know it."

"Someone has to tell him. He has to know before he gets hurt even more. He has to know that he was pulled into the Hunger Games already marked for death."

**XX**

So a few of these sections are very short, and some are sloppily done, but I thought you'd want an update, no matter how mergle it was. So, here you go. Again, I apologize. Angry reviews will be taken happily for they are deserved. I just hope you haven't all left! ^_^'


	16. IMPORTANT

So many of you have probably figured this out by now, but this is getting posted all the same:

I've lost my muse for this story, sadly, so I'm thinking of rewriting it. I was thinking I'd rewrite this story completely. Part of the reason it began to irritate me was because my Quarter Quell idea was exactly the same as the QQ when Haymitch won (the 50th games). I was thinking that I would rewrite this story as part of the 50th Hunger Games. This means a few changes. First and foremost, none of your tributes would win. Obviously, Haymitch would. Two, a male and female tribute from District 12 (probably Will Darius and Seneca Mellark) will be deleted to make room for Haymitch and Maysilee Donner. Three, I'd definitely start writing again. I've had some really great ideas in this vein.

I'm so sorry to do this to all of you guys, but it's been so long since I've written this that I'm pretty sure most of you have forgotten about it. Not only did the unoriginality of the Quarter Quell bother me, the writing makes me cringe _; To be completely honest, I just want to do this over and create an even more amazing story for you guys. I hope you will support The 50th Hunger Games when I do start posting it, and I hope you don't totally hate me for doing this! -braces for attacks-


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